


Ocean eyes (30 days of nathmarc prompts)

by Parachutes



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: M/M, nathmarcnovember, prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-14 10:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 49,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16491026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parachutes/pseuds/Parachutes
Summary: A collection of short Nathmarc fics for Nathmarc November.





	1. Day 1: First date

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! Long time no see I guess whoops.  
> I'm participating (or at least, trying to) in Nathmarc November, and this is a collection of the short fics I've written for it. :)  
> Hope you'll enjoy!

He is 30 minutes early. 30. That’s a whole lot. He can’t possibly stand there for half an hour. So Marc sits down on a bench just across the cinema, placing his bag beside him. Sighing, he pulls his legs up, hugging his knees as he waits.

Bad idea.

Definitely a bad idea.

If there’s one thing Marc knows he’s fairly good at, except writing maybe, it’s overthinking. Except overthinking isn’t… a very convenient ability to possess.

But. The ironic thing is that the whole reason for his problems right now, is the fact that for once in his life he had not thought before acting.

Yes. He had blurted out something he can’t take back anymore.

Before he could think about it.

He had asked his crush out on a date.

And he had said yes.

Okay, maybe he hadn’t _literally_ asked him out on a date. But. This is a date, right? Going to the movies with someone. Alone. Wouldn’t be anything else but a date. Would it?

But. You would only think of it as a date when you are actually interested in the person. Right?

So probably, Nathaniel won’t think of this as a date. Right?

…or will he?

Maybe he will realize halfway and laugh at him and just leave him there, and he will never speak to him again.

…but… Nathaniel won’t do something like that…

Or will he?

How much does he know about Nathaniel anyway?

He knows the little lights that appear when he is drawing. Like tiny stars reflected in his ocean eyes.

He knows the way he always absorbs himself in his art, completely focused on the creation of his world and characters.

He knows he looks beautiful like that. He can easily watch him drawing for hours.   
He knows he is a little shy like him, but he knows he can also talk forever about the things he loves.

He knows he is a good listener, always open to his ideas about the comics they create together.

He knows he is stronger than he gives himself credit for, better at standing up for himself than he thinks he is.

He knows a lot more now than when he only watched him from a distance.

Yet he still wants to learn more about him. To get to know him even better.

Be at as a friend, or…

Ah, then… This is no good, is it…?

To Nathaniel, he is a friend. A friend with whom he creates a comic.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Then if… Nathaniel thinks that he thinks of this as a date, then…

Then he will take it the wrong way and…

Their friendship will be ruined.

They will never work together again.

Spend time together again.

He’ll never see him again.

No, no, no no, no-

He has to convince Nathaniel. That this is a friend date. Yes. Nothing else.

After all… he’d  invited him because they both love the comic that is being adapted in this movie. You’d do that with a friend… right? Not with a date…

So, it will be fine…

He won’t misunderstand.

…right?

‘Hey. Did you wait long?’

He looks up, blinking, pulled back into the real world, suddenly facing his troubles. His troubles look good, though. Smiling a little bit. Nathaniel always smiles more with his eyes than with his lips. Marc loves it.

Nathaniel then looks a bit confused.

Oh, right. Conversation.

Marc quickly gets up from the bench, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

‘Ah, no, it’s alright! It was my own fault for being too early!’

Oh. Not what he wanted to say. Isn’t it a bit weird to admit he was too early? Don’t people usually lie about this, or something? Argh, he is already ruining this.

The worrying doesn’t help, he feels the blood rise to his cheeks, and he looks away quickly.

Nathaniel doesn’t comment on it and just smiles at him.

‘Let’s go inside, it’s starting in about 15 minutes.’

‘Right!’

He follows him inside. It is quite crowded in the cinema, various people are lining up to buy a ticket, others are ordering drinks and popcorn, or are already waiting in front of the movie rooms. Luckily, Nathaniel and him have already bought their tickets online to avoid the lines.

‘Want to get some snacks?’ Nathaniel looks at him.

‘Ah, erm, sure,’ he smiles at him a bit and follows closely.’

He notices Nathaniel might’ve grown a little taller, yet he is still shorter than he is.

 ‘Do you prefer sweet or salty popcorn?’ Nathaniel suddenly looks back at him, meeting his eyes, making Marc feel like he has been caught staring, and he quickly averts his gaze a bit.

‘Ah, salty…’ he looks up, and Nathaniel is smiling with his eyes again. It forces him to smile back.

‘Nice, same as me…! Let’s share a big one,’ his eyes light up even more and before Marc can protest, he is suddenly carrying a large box of popcorn, which, apparently… The two of them are going to share.

Isn’t that… like… a couple thing…?

He imagines slamming the thought out of his mind, never to return to it again, and it helps. A little. For a few minutes.

‘Thanks for inviting me, by the way,’ Nathaniel says as they enter the movie room, finding their place. He sits down as he finds his number, and looks at him. ‘I am really excited for this movie, you know…!’

Marc is, too. He almost forgot due to all the stress. It’s a good thing Nathaniel reminded him of it. ‘Ah, me too… I hope they will really do the comic justice.’

‘Same here…’ Nathaniel looks a bit worried. ‘Sometimes they change so much… it’s annoying. And… wouldn’t it be for the writers, also?’ He looks at him, brows furrowed. ‘I mean. Imagine if someone would want to animate our comic, but they’d want to change something major like the color of a suit, or suddenly add a sibling to the main character, or I don’t know… change up the love interest!’

Marc’s heart skips a beat at the “our” comic, but the thought is discarded as he feels it’s more important to agree with Nathaniel’s statement. Since he’s more than correct.

‘You’re right… I’d hate to see our story changed so much… I can’t imagine how writers deal with that…’

‘Let’s just hope for the best for this movie,’ Nathaniel says as he points to the screen turning on.

Their prayers are heard. Marc feels himself watching with amazement, his heart pounding a little faster at the great action scenes and the things he indeed recognizes from the comics. It is over too soon, at a crazy cliffhanger and a wave of frustration washes over him as the end credits roll, moving back against the back of his seat (he didn’t even realized he had been watching on the edge of it).

‘Oh, man… really? This is where they end it?’ he hears beside him.

‘I know, right!’ he responds. ‘I need more. I will just wait here until the next movie is here.’

A small chuckle sounds and Marc looks up next to him, Nathaniel is smiling brightly at him. It is the most beautiful sight he could ever wish for.

Blushing slightly, he quickly stuffs his mouth with some more popcorn. The movie had been too exciting too eat through it.

‘Even though I’d love to do that, I think we have to leave before they’re gonna kick us out,’ Nathaniel comments.

‘Hm, you’re right.’

They continue their discussion in the burger place next door, spending way more time talking than eating burgers. Everything feels like a daze until suddenly they are outside again, about to go their separate ways, and as they stand in front of each other, Marc finds himself wishing it could’ve lasted longer.

Nathaniel smiles at him again, however. And well, that is really good, too.

‘Thank you for today, I really enjoyed it.’

‘Ah- me, too…!’

‘It’s the first time I ever enjoyed watching a movie with someone so much.’

‘…’ It is a bit difficult to respond to that, but Marc thinks that probably, smiling at him is enough. So he does. His cheeks a bit red again, though. He hopes Nathaniel doesn’t notice.

If he does, he doesn’t mention it.

Instead, he speaks again, a bit quiet, his eyes not completely focussed on him, but moving a little.

‘Uhm, let’s… do this again sometime…?’ he then looks at him, and for a moment, Marc thinks he finds something new within his eyes, but he isn’t quite sure what it is. But it’s pretty, and he likes it very much.

‘Y-yes, of course…!’

Nathaniel smiles. Brighter than he has ever witnessed. ‘Then next time, let’s have a movie night. We’ll be able to watch much more movies…! I mean, this was good, too… Felt a bit like a date.’

Marc turns bright red. ‘D-date…?’

Nathaniel is playing a bit with his hair when he carefully looks at him. ‘Ah erm, I mean, would you find that… weird?’

Nothing exists. Not the people around them leaving the cinema. Not the loud sounds of the cars rushing past. Not the busy crowds of Paris on the most beautiful Friday evening he’s ever experienced.. Just him. Nathaniel. And his loudly pounding heart. He wants to scream, but instead answers softly.

‘N-no, not at all…!’

Nathaniel seems a bit more at ease now. Good. ‘I’m glad. Well, I’ll see you Monday at school then.’

His heart is jumping. A little bit more and it’ll just soar right out of his chest.

‘See you…!’

They part ways, but the fuzzy feeling in Marc’s stomach lingers for a  very longer while.


	2. Day 2: Superheroes

The air was an angry dark grey, and millions of raindrops had been falling down for hours, causing Marc to be unable to feel them anymore. The wind was resisting them, blowing in their faces with its ice cold breath. But still they had to carry on. If they didn’t beat this giant robot their archenemy had created, Paris would be doomed.

It was _huge_ , fast and it was as if their attacks were doing absolutely nothing. His super-strength seemed to be useless, and his partner’s weapons, he had multiple which he could summon at will, didn’t seem to work either.

He bit his lip and closed in again, the cold air racing past him as he ran, and he balled his fist, raising it, hitting the enemy, perfect speed, perfect power. But still, nothing.  
Marc moved out of the way, as he felt his partner getting close, giving him space, and indeed, he clashed a large sword he had just summoned against the robot’s body. Not a scratch.

The robot moved its head, once again getting ready to power up his large laser beam that he had been using for the past few minutes. It was slow, but extremely powerful.

‘Watch out!’ his partner called out. ‘It’s coming!’ The weather had messed up his red hair that was usually so tidy, and he had to brush some strands out of his face  in order not to be blinded. Usually, Marc would get mesmerized by his ocean eyes, which were suddenly made visible in the process. Right now, he almost fell prey to it, as well, but he quickly forced himself to focus. Just in time. The laser beam missed him by only a few centimetres.

‘We have to come up with something…’ Nathaniel’s brows were furrowed, and he put away the long sword. ‘Or this’ll take forever…’

He was right… But what could they possibly do…? It was just the two of them…

But maybe… maybe… exactly because it _was_ the two of them.

‘ _Marc!’_ Nathaniel crashed into him sooner than he could look up to meet his gaze, and as he watched the laser beam hit the abandoned car just behind them, he realized his partner had just saved him by pushing the both of them out of the way.

‘Ah, t-thank you…!’ he called out as he awkwardly scratched his head.

His partner looked just a tiny bit irritated. ‘What were you doing?’

‘Brainstorming.’

‘…did it work…?’

Marc felt the corners of his lips curl into a small smile, and he nodded. ‘Yeah, I have an idea.’

Blushing a bit, he grabbed his hand, feeling Nathaniel jump slightly at the touch. It made him blush a little more. But he had to pay attention. He squeezed his hand softly, then looked at him. ‘Let’s try combining our powers!’

Nathaniel gave him a short nod, and squeezed back just before turning to face the monster. He closed his eyes, and Marc followed his example.

His hand was warm, and Marc imagined pushing his powers all the way to where their fingers touched, letting them mix into something strong, something amazing, something good enough to protect their city and everyone living in it.

Then, Marc could feel it. Both his strengths, his weaknesses. Both his desires, his doubts. He could feel _him._

He opened his eyes and as he looked next to him, their eyes met. Nathaniel smiled at him. That was all he needed.

They moved, perfectly in sync, arms stretched out and as they got closer to the enemy, they summoned a sword bigger than Marc had ever seen, moving it forward using his super-strength.   
The robot turned, about to fire his laser beam and-

They were faster. The giant sword finally, _finally_  cut down the enemy.

The weapon disappeared and at the same time, the word twisted and turned as dizziness got a hold of him. The last thing he saw were Nathaniel’s eyes, full of worry, but also of pride. They had succeeded. And he was falling. Right into his partner’s arms.

===

That… felt a bit harder than he’d imagined. Marc blinked, the ceiling above him looked an awful lot like his bedroom’s. He pushed himself in a sitting position, and saw his bed, which he’d… probably fallen out of.

He crawled back inside, closing his eyes, a small smile resting on his lips.   


He’d tell Nathaniel about his idea for the new chapter of their comic tomorrow.

 

 


	3. Day 3: Coffee

When he hurried inside, the warmth of the café immediately hugged him like a welcoming blanket. Nathaniel exhaled, relaxing as he let his eyes go over the tables. Almost every single one of them was occupied. Which wasn’t strange, since this November had so far been one of the coldest in several years. And during winter, there was nothing in the world better than stopping by for a hot cup of coffee in a cosy café. Except maybe sharing a coffee like that with a very special someone.

Nathaniel felt his lips curl into a small smile as noticed he was already there. Right in the corner, at their favourite spot, with the nice sofa.

He hurried to his side, the smell of freshly brewed coffee already warming him up as he passed the bar.

‘Hey,’ he greeted him as he sat beside him on the sofa, taking off his shawl and coat. ‘Been here long already?’

Marc smiled at him, shaking his head. ‘I just arrived. I figured you’d show up soon so I already ordered your favourite.’

‘Thank you,’ he answered, smiling softly. As he took out his tablet, he looked around the café. Here and there, some gold and silver garlands were already put up, and he also spotted a few mistletoes spread out across the room. He quickly checked above them, but, there was none there. Maybe he should lure Marc to a different spot around Christmas… The thought made him grin a bit, and he felt Marc’s gaze on him. Looking up, he noticed the confusion in his eyes.

‘Ah, I was just noticing they’ve already put up some Christmas decorations. Halloween is just over.’

‘Yeah, the Christmas specials should be arriving next week, the waitress told me,’ Marc said, his eyes lighting up a bit. He had been looking forward to those, Nathaniel knew.

‘And they’re gonna place a tree, too, but I think that’ll be in December.’

‘Well, we won’t miss it,’ Nathaniel said, starting up his tablet. ‘Remember when we first came here…?’

Marc nodded, looking up from his notebook. He was pretty busy, considering he was working on some kind of writing challenge that was organized every year in November. He had told Nathaniel about it. And simultaneously, he was also still working on the script for the comic.

Nathaniel had told him they could take a break from it, but Marc had refused.

‘It’s fine! I love meeting up with you to work on our comic! I mean erm, I… I can c-combine it…!’ he had stuttered.

Nathaniel felt fuzzy inside remembering the way Marc’s cheek had reddened a little while saying that, and the way he had averted his eyes, fumbling a bit with the small strings of his hoodie.

He hadn’t commented on it though. It would have probably make him feel even more awkward.

Marc’s voice brought him back to the here and now of the café. ‘Yeah… I hadn’t been very subtle, had I?’ he paused a bit, and Nathaniel looked next to him, seeing Marc smile a bit embarrassed.

‘About wanting to go here? Nope, not at all.’ He opened the page he was working on. The sketch was already there. He hoped to be able to at least finish the line art today. ‘I mean, you were just looking at me with so much hope in your eyes, how could I have possibly ignored that?’

Marc smiled a bit. ‘I hadn’t even asked you.’

‘Not directly, no.’ He grabbed his pencil, and started on the line art. ‘But I’m glad I took you. This place is amazing.’

Marc was beaming. It was cute when he did that. He was never loud, nor extremely obvious, but still, to him it was easy to notice the way the green in his eyes seemed to become just a little brighter, and his lips curled into a smile that was a whole lot different from his embarrassed or shy ones. Nathaniel always felt lucky whenever he showed him a smile like that.

‘I’m really glad you like it, Nathaniel.’

_I like you, too._ ‘Of course! It’s perfect for working. Even now that it’s crowded it’s still cosy and comfortable.’

The waitress appeared, putting two big mugs in front of them. Nathaniel actually never liked coffee so much before he started going here with Marc.

But now, the smell of cinnamon mixed with fresh coffee beans and milk was one of his favourite ones. He took the mug in his hands, the warmth spreading to his fingertips and he took a sip, looking at Marc, who was smiling brightly as he took his own coffee. He was more of a vanilla person. Which was quite good, too. Nathaniel was actually pretty curious about the Christmas specials as well, since they had just missed it last year. They had been coming here regularly since January, after all.

Marc looked up and their eyes met for a short while. His writer’s cheeks got a little pink, and he smiled at him.

Nathaniel wondered if maybe, just maybe, the fact that he now liked coffee so much had to do with the boy that introduced him to it.


	4. Day 4: Rain

He was running. The grey clouds above him were weeping. The drops mixed and mingled with his tears, and at some point, he didn’t even know if he was crying anymore.

He only knew he had to get away. Away from what? Everything. Realisation. Truth. Pain. All hidden behind the one face he loved seeing the most.

The exact reason why he had to run. He couldn’t bear it. He wasn’t strong. Never was, never would be.

It had all been one huge mistake. He should’ve stayed away. Far, far in the shadows. It should’ve been enough to just admire him. But he had been too greedy. Too desperate.

But it was never meant to be.

Of course not.

He was nothing. But _he. He_ was everything.

His feet were just moving. Throwing themselves in front of each other. He had never been athletic, and he wasn’t now. It was just that he couldn’t feel them anymore. Couldn’t feel them burning as much as his lungs, that were screaming for air. He could hardly feel anything but the cold. Everything was cold. His hair, his face, his body, his heart.

Then, a misstep, a bump on the pavement. One moment he was running, the other, he was flat face on the ground.

It hurt.

Funny. He could finally feel something else again.

It didn’t make him laugh, though.

It didn’t make him do anything.

Was there a point in getting up?

Not really.

Was there a point in staying there?

Not really, either.

He just didn’t know anymore.

Then, something warm on his shoulder.

It felt kinda good. But at the same time, it made his senses jump. Because it couldn’t- It couldn’t be him. He couldn’t see him. Not like this. Please.

‘Marc…’

The world hated him, probably.

He pushed himself up. Slowly. He looked at his hands. They were dirty. So was his jeans. So was everything. He thought he saw a little blood on the palms, but he wasn’t sure. It burned a little.

‘Marc, please…’

Please, what? What was it that he wanted from him? Why did he even follow him? He didn’t deserve that. He should stay far, far away from the things he couldn’t reach.

But. He was close. He was still squeezing his shoulder, after all.

His hand seemed to be trembling a little.

One part of him wanted to turn around and see the look in his eyes. Another wanted to shake his hand away and run some more.

He listened to neither.

He was frozen. Hand and knees on the pavement, tears raining down on him. He looked up. Everything was grey.

‘Please… look at me…’

Why?

‘…I can’t…’

‘Please! I want to… to talk to you…’

‘You don’t, actually. And that’s alright, you know?’ It was strange how foreign his own voice suddenly sounded, but he still knew it belonged to him.

‘Don’t… Don’t act like you know what I’m thinking!’

He sounded angry now. Just like back then.

He could get like that very suddenly sometimes. From quiet to yelling, shy to confident, insecure to determined. Sometimes, he was like a whirlwind. And he loved it. Loved him.

For a second, he let go of his shoulder, and almost, almost, he felt relieved. But it lasted only until the hand was back. Two of them actually. And his body in front of him. Forcing him to look up.

Quickly, he averted his gaze.

But he was really close now, faces only inches apart.

‘ _Marc!’_

‘It’s alright. Go home. You’re gonna catch a cold.’

‘Well, aren’t you?’

‘I’ll be fine.’

‘No, you’re not! Just- listen to me, please!’

‘I don’t want to be a burden to you. It’s alright. Your reaction has been clear.’

‘No it hasn’t!’

Ah, one hand was gone again. Which was pleasant, but- Something was grabbing his shirt suddenly, and he gave in, looking the boy in front of him in the eye.

The ocean eyes were…

Complicated.

There was no calm. No anger. No sadness. No happiness. No pain. It was nothing, and everything at once.

He couldn’t help but reach out. His fingertips touched his cheek, but he quickly let go again.

Nathaniel didn’t let him get away with that so easily, grabbing his hand in his own as he kept locking his gaze within his own.

‘Marc, I… I am so sorry for what I said… I didn’t mean to… I got… really confused and really insecure and couldn’t believe you… So I… I thought you were joking. And that made me angry because, because… well…’

Nathaniel was a mess. His hair was both wet and tangled here and there. His clothes were completely soaked, and he was shivering slightly. His eyes were still complicated, but little by little, he was able to identify the separate emotions within them. There was sadness, there was pain, regret. But also a tiny little light. Marc wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew it was beautiful. He wanted to see more of it.

Nathaniel had stopped talking, probably unable to come up with the right words. He looked frustrated, his eyebrows slightly furrowed and his hands made into fists. He didn’t meet his gaze for a while, until he did, and his eyes were burning with something Marc was quite sure was determination.

‘Marc, I… I was angry because… I thought you were joking, and… I didn’t want you to be joking… I wanted your words to be genuine… But I… was too scared to believe them… I’m sorry…’

Marc didn’t understand. But Nathaniel suddenly looked so sad and fragile, that he couldn’t help reaching out and embracing him.

Just for a tiny bit. Until he remembered that the other boy probably wouldn’t appreciate it. So he let go again.

‘It’s alright… You don’t have to… say anything, you know…? I just… wanted to tell you. Because I thought that was the right thing… Maybe it wasn’t, so I… I’m sorry, Nathaniel…’

Nathaniel’s  expression then soured, and he blinked a few times before he spoke.

‘What… you… you don’t understand me, do you, Marc?’

_Huh?_

His face had probably showed enough confusion for Nathaniel to grab his shoulders again, and look at him with those intense eyes.

‘I’m saying I, I return your feelings, Marc!’

_...huh?_

Nathaniel waited, he still looked irritated. ‘Oh, screw it.’

And then, the world stopped.

Everything froze as Nathaniel leaned in, and sealed his words by softly kissing his lips.

It was short. It was clumsy. Cold. Wet, too. But it was perfect.

And everything Marc had ever wished for.

 

 

 

 


	5. Day 5: Fireworks

The warm summer breeze was a pleasant one. Marc felt like he could finally relax a bit when he focussed all his attention on the feeling of the soft wind on his bare skin. Closing his eyes, he sighed a little of relief. Still, he was unable to fully fool himself. His heart was still pounding loudly, and his hands were still a little sweaty. All because he had made up his mind to do something. Once again, all because of something he had sat his mind on.

It all had to do with a certain redhead next to him.

Marc glanced at him carefully, intending to do it secretly, but he was suddenly looking right into his eyes, and his heart jumped a little. He froze, blinking a bit, as he felt his cheeks heat up and he quickly looked away.

Nathaniel didn’t say anything about it. Marc was lucky he was so nice. ‘You really did find us the best spot,’ Nathaniel said instead, and Marc looked to see him beaming, small glitters in his ocean eyes.

‘Well, I er, did my research,’ he answered, and immediately regretted it. It was the truth, but. Wouldn’t that be a little weird? There were several options running through his mind that he could say to make it less weird, but Marc was unable to find his words, and his friend spoke before he could.

‘You certainly did!’ he smiled at him. Marc felt blessed. ‘I’m so surprised there’s no one else here…!’

_That’s… because your whole class wants us to be alone so they ditched us, you airhead…_ Marc grimaced a bit, but swallowed his thought. Nathaniel wouldn’t know. He just… hoped their friends were right… And that… they were really… meant to be…

Because…  
Even though how much they supported them…

Marc was scared.

He had always been.

He was a bit of a coward.

And confessing his feeling was…

Nathaniel took a bit of the cotton candy he had just bought, putting it in his mouth. He then looked next to him, and their eyes met. Once again, Marc was gifted with one of his beautiful smiles. He felt fuzzy inside. Nathaniel offered him a piece of the cotton candy and Marc took it, smiling. ‘Thanks…’ He ate it. Sweet. Too sweet. Marc didn’t actually like cotton candy that much. But since Nathaniel gave it to him, he didn’t mind at all.

He wasn’t sure if he could do it… Not like this…  Not with putting their friendship on the line so much… Maybe… Just maybe… He should once again postpone his confession after all.

Because Nathaniel looked so happy, just like this.

Just beside him, not too close, not too far away. Marc was okay with this. He didn’t need more.

…or…did he…?

‘Thanks for coming with me, Marc,’ Nathaniel suddenly said, and Marc looked up, blinking. _What for?_

‘Even though you’re not part of our class… But I really wanted to invite you. My class is great and all, but…’

Nathaniel found his gaze, and locked it. He couldn’t look away anymore, not from the intensity in his eyes. ‘…but I feel most at ease around you.’ He smiled softly. ‘So I wanted to watch the fireworks with you…’

There was more fuzziness, and Marc absently wondered if he had eaten too much cotton candy, because he felt like his body was full of fluff.

It was hard to react to something like that, with his head full of screams and words and happiness and questions and so many emotions that he almost drowned in them.

He was sure his cheeks were matching quite well with Nathaniel’s hair at that point.

There was a smile teasing with his lips, he could feel it. He didn’t mind, though.

Maybe… Maybe… Just maybe…

He could say it…

He took a deep breath. ‘I’m really happy you invited me.’

His friend smiled at him.

He took another. ‘I… wanted to see the fireworks with you, too, Nathaniel…’

Nathaniel smiled some more. ‘I’m glad.’

He took an extra, super deep breath. Most certainly, he was blushing more than he’d ever done before. ‘I…’

He chickened out. And bit his lip. Averted his gaze.

Then, a warm hand, taking his own. Squeezing slightly. Marc looked next to him.

Nathaniel’s cheeks were just a tiny bit pink. And he was staring at the sky.

‘I think they’re starting soon…’

Marc followed his gaze.

And immediately, an series of skyrockets exploded into every colour of the rainbow, indicating the start of the fireworks show.

Nathaniel squeezed his hand, and shuffled a little closer to him, their legs touching slightly.

Marc exhaled, relaxing slowly, squeezing back, as he watched the fireworks explode, the Eiffel tower standing proudly in the background. Nathaniel’s hand was warm, fingers tangled with his own.

Everything was perfect.

They had no need for words.

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Day 6: Roadtrip

The low evening sun’s warmth radiated down on him, and he closed his eyes a bit, enjoying the quiet music coming from the boxes, and the sound of the wheels of the car running on the road.

The soft touch of fingers caressing his cheek made him look up lazily, and he saw his boyfriend smiling at him, before he turned his attention back to the road and pulled away.

Marc was a very good driver, especially considering he’d only had his license for a few months now. It was comfortable, too, because this way they could switch places as often as they wanted.

It had even been the writer’s idea to go on a trip together as soon as Nathaniel told him he could borrow his parents’ car during the summer holidays.

‘We can travel to all kinds of places… For inspiration for our comics, you know,’ he had said, beaming. ‘And..... I’d… love to travel together with you…’ Marc always looked adorable when he was blushing. It was something that had never changed in the four years they had known each other.

Nathaniel found himself thinking back to the moment he had confessed. It had been Marc who did it first. Because he himself had been too scared, afraid he’d scare the innocent boy away. Deep down, Nathaniel had always known Marc liked him, and at some point, he came to return his feelings. But just silently knowing this, had been enough for quite a long time. Until Marc had gathered up enough courage, a few days after his seventeenth birthday. Nathaniel was so glad that he did.

‘Ah, Nath, look…’ Marc pulled him out of memories and he followed his boyfriend’s nod outside of the window.

There, the sun was slowly setting, creating a variety of colors Nathaniel had never been able to see so clearly in the crowds of Paris.

‘It’s… beautiful…’

‘Wanna get out and sketch a little?’ Marc asked him. ‘There’s an area where I can stop up ahead…’ he smiled at him.

Nathaniel nodded, and a few minutes later, Marc parked the car. He could already see that the view would be amazing from there, so he quickly opened the door, jumping out, the soft evening breeze welcoming him.

They were quite high up in the mountains, and the cliff they were standing on was protected by a fence. Below, there was a forest spreading out. Further in the distance, several villages could be seen. And the sky, ranging from a radiating gold, all the way to a deep indigo, was beaming as the sun was slowly setting.

Nathaniel felt so small suddenly, so amazed by the world around him, that he just stood there watching.

As he felt Marc walking up to him, he reached out and grabbed his hand, holding him tightly, not tearing his gaze away from the view for a second.

‘Nath…? Didn’t you want to paint…?’

‘Ssssh,’ he shushed him, squeezing his hand a little as he pulled him closer, their arms touching. He leaned his head against his shoulder.

‘This is perfect.’

Marc wrapped his arm around him and Nathaniel’s lips curled into a smile.

Together, they watched the sun disappear into the horizon.

 


	7. Day 7: Anniversary

The empty pages were dancing in front of his eyes. The thin black lines, void of words seemed to be mocking him. Marc put his pen down, sighing. He couldn’t concentrate on his story like this.

Not when he was constantly thinking about him.

It was probably no big deal.

He’d probably forgotten.

That, or he did not really care.

Marc couldn’t really blame him, could he? It was just a number. And they saw each other every day at school anyways, it was not like they had to make a special appointment for today. No, they had spent it like any other. Meeting up during lunch break, going to the art room after their classes to work on their comic together, taking a detour on the way home to stop at their favourite coffee place, and then, Nathaniel had walked him home.

It had been a peaceful, normal day. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, but…

Marc still found himself wishing he had said something…

That he’d given him the letters he had written for him…

Because, to him… It _was_ a special day, since exactly one year ago, they had confessed their feelings to each other, and became a couple.

Maybe, Nathaniel was just thinking that every day they spend together was special, not just this one, and yeah, that was probably why he didn’t say anything and-

He just, didn’t care, did he?

That’s what it came down to.

He didn’t care about their anniversary.

Marc got up and dropped his body on his bed, slamming his face into the pillow.

He had to stop.

Nathaniel wasn’t like that.   
He cared, he always cared.

These were just his insecurities toying with him.

Marc _knew_ that. But he still felt a bit empty inside. Same as his notebook.

He grimaced into the pillow.

Funny.

Writing usually made him feel better. But now, writing only reminded him of Nathaniel, who was the current source of his worries.

Great. That meant he couldn’t distract himself.

He sighed.

Rolled around so he was facing the ceiling. Maybe he should just take a nap.

Wait until it was morning again, then he wouldn’t need to worry about anniversaries anymore.

Marc was about to close his eyes when his phone vibrated and he reached out to grab it.

There was a message, and Marc almost dropped it.

_Come outside._

It was from Nathaniel.

He could feel something tingle deep in his stomach, spreading various electric sparks through his entire body. Marc got up. Too fast. He couldn’t see straight for a little while, as a thousand stars danced in front of his eyes.

He shook them away quickly, grabbed the envelope that had been in his bag the entire day, and left the house after notifying his parents he’d be going out for a bit.

It was still pleasant outside, the Indian summer had been pretty warm so far, so Marc didn’t need his jacket. There were several people still walking around, enjoying for as long as the seasons would permit it.

His eyes searched around the house, but he couldn’t find those ocean eyes he had been longing for, and he felt his heart sink.

Then, his boyfriend suddenly stepped in front of him, his arms behind his back, smiling softly.

‘Hey.’

Marc blinked a bit, surprised. ‘Hey…’

Nathaniel smiled a bit brighter. ‘I… wanted to see you… Sorry I just send you a text like that, suddenly,’ he grinned. Marc loved it.

‘No, it’s fine, uhm, I was thinking about you, too…’

Wah, did he just really say that out loud? He quickly averted his gaze, feeling the blood rise to his cheeks.

Nathaniel didn’t seem to mind. ‘Really? That’s great. I… got you something, Marc…’ He moved his arms from behind his back, revealing one single red rose.

It was beautiful, and Marc was at a loss for words as Nathaniel offered it to him.

Meanwhile, his mind was exploding, and there were thoughts like, he didn’t forget! That is a red rose. Wait, what? Is he giving it to me? Does that mean… You know what it means, he is your boyfriend, idiot. But a red rose! He didn’t forget!

Everything was a mess, and Marc was so happy he forgot to take the rose from him, and Nathaniel had to push it in his hands, chuckling a bit.

‘Happy anniversary, Marc… I… hope you didn’t forget?’

‘No! I mean, not at all I- Erm, thank you… I’m… so flattered…’ Marc was sure he was blushing so brightly he probably needed to throw water in his face, but it didn’t really matter.

Nathaniel didn’t seem to mind either. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier… I didn’t know what to say, and… Well, here I am…’ he scratched the back of his head a bit awkwardly. ‘Erm, wanna walk around a bit? Get some ice cream?’

Marc was beaming. ‘Of course! Ah, I… Have something for you, too, but open it when you’re home, alright?’ He placed the envelope in Nathaniel’s hands.

‘Alright,’ Nathaniel smiled and put the envelope away, then held out his hand to him. ‘Shall we?’

Marc took his hand, and they walked.

First towards the Eiffel tower, then they bought an ice cream and walked along the Seine as the sun slowly set. Nathaniel’s hand was warm and soft in his, and Marc had never experienced a more beautiful evening.


	8. Day 8: Jealousy

The sketchbook in front of him was empty, except for only a few lines. Nathaniel was squeezing his pencil, staring across the room. He was there _again._ And speaking with Marc _again_. For the fourth time this week, after having been here every day last week as well, and Nathaniel was pretty sure it wouldn’t stop anytime soon. The boy was casually talking to Marc, bumping his fist playfully against his shoulder, and Nathaniel saw the other blushing slightly as he chuckled a bit. Ah, right, _Jonathan_ was his name. He had just joined Marc’s class after switching schools and ever since, he hadn’t been away from Marc’s side.

Jonathan was smiling brightly, then grabbed his sketchbook as he handed it to Marc, who took it and flipped through the pages, eyes shining brightly.

Nathaniel squeezed his pencil harder. There was something heavy in his chest. Maybe he had caught a cold, or…

He sighed. Flipped the pencil in his hand a few times. Looked at his sketchbook. Looked back at Jonathan and Marc. Sighed again. And leaned back against his chair. Marc had handed the sketchbook back to Jonathan and was talking, still these little lights shining in his eyes as he spoke. The other boy was smiling at him.

Yeah, his chest was weird. He was getting sick. Most probably.

‘Hey, what’s up, you sulking?’

Nathaniel looked up, and his friend Alix was in front of him, shaking a red graffiti spray can.

‘I’m not sulking.’

‘Wow, you look even more sulky now, talk to me, Nate!’

Nathaniel flipped his pencil around. Jonathan had put his hand on Marc’s shoulder as he was speaking, the other blushing again as he seemed to be listening carefully.

A knot. A knot in his chest. Should he go see a doctor or something?

‘Ohhhh, I see…’

‘See what?’ Nathaniel forced his gaze away from the two to study Alix’ expression, frowning slightly.

She had apparently followed his staring, as she was now observing Marc and Jonathan as well.

‘You scared he’s gonna steal your writer away?’

‘What? No!’

The words had rolled over his lips before he could stop and think about them. Was that why he was feeling so uneasy?

‘Aw, come on, you’re an open book here. You’ve been staring at them ever since I came in. Why don’t you just talk to Marc?’

‘And say what? I shouldn’t disturb him.’

He felt cold. He turned around, his back to the two boys and started sketching. But his lines were too angry, the grip on his pencil way off. He dropped it and tore out the page from his sketchbook, fumbling it together before he tossed it in the trashcan some centimetres away from him.

‘Nate…!’

Nathaniel looked up. Alix’ eyes had turned worried. He never really threw his drawings away, so that probably explained why. Unconsciously, Nathaniel glanced in Marc’s direction. He was still talking with Jonathan, he hadn’t even said a word to him aside from greeting him when he came in.

He should go home.

‘I think I’ll go home…’ he was about to stand up, but Alix stopped him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

‘Wait, just a second…’ She looked him in the eye. ‘It’s okay, you know. Just, be honest with yourself. And don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t make the same mistakes.’ She let go of him.

Nathaniel’s mind flashed back to when he rejected Marc’s offer to create a comic together, having concluded he only wanted to tease him. It was so stupid. Marc would never ever do something like that. He still felt guilty for tearing his notebook, even though the writer had already forgiven him months ago.

That’s why… Nathaniel thought he didn’t really have a right to say anything. Even though they were a team, Marc wasn’t _his_ writer. He could cooperate with any artist he wanted.

But why… Why did his chest feel so heavy then…?

Nathaniel got up. ‘I know, Alix… I’m just… I need to think… I’ll talk to him later…’

Alix smiled. ‘You do that.’

He nodded at her and walked away slowly, his eyes on Marc. He was scribbling in his notebook, not noticing him. At some point however, he looked up and their eyes met.

Nathaniel quickly averted his gaze and exited the room, hurrying away.

There was something pounding in his head, and he rubbed his temples as he reached his locker, taking out his stuff so he could go home.

Then, a voice.

‘Nathaniel…? Are you alright…? ‘

Nathaniel dropped his sketchbook and kneeled down to get it back, but the owner of the voice was first. Marc grabbed his sketchbook and handed it to him, his green eyes seemed to be full of questions.

‘…thanks… Uhm, I’m fine, just a little headache, so I’ll be going home.’

Marc got up, looking unsure. ‘I see… I hope you’ll feel better soon.’ He smiled. But only a little. Nathaniel didn’t like it much. It was better when he smiled brightly, with those little lights in his eyes. But apparently, these now only shone for Jonathan instead of him.

The realisation stabbed him in the chest and he grimaced.

Why was he overreacting so much? Marc was just a friend, right? He was just… the writer with whom he cooperated, right? Why did it hurt so much, then?

Why was he thinking about the look in his eyes and smile and about how he wanted all of those to be directed at _him_ instead of that crappy artist that only showed up last week?

‘…Nathaniel…?’

‘…yeah, thank you. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. During my absence you’ll have all the time to work with your new artist. Oh, and just so you know, I’m not stopping you when I’m back either, so, good luck.’

He turned around, his head burning, his heart freezing and his hands shaking. That was mean. He knew it was mean. But somehow, he had still said those words. He walked away.

Marc didn’t follow him.

That made it worse.

He squeezed his bag, leaving the school.

Then suddenly, a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and Marc was there, his eyes a little red and some tears rolling down his cheeks.

_Oh_. He made him cry. Once again.

He. He really didn’t deserve to be Marc’s friend.

Words were stuck in his head, unable to get out. There were many he wanted to say, many he should have said, but none came.

So Marc had to speak.

‘I… I wanted to… work with you, Nathaniel…’

Huh?

‘…he just kept talking to me, though. He is really nice and talented, but… he doesn’t understand my writing at all. He says he does, but… It’s not like… you… But he… keeps wanting to sit with me and… show me his stuff… make me show him my stuff… And you… didn’t seem to like him, so… I figured I’d stay away a bit…’

Nathaniel couldn’t follow him entirely, but he knew that Marc was crying and uncomfortable and the important thing was that he stopped feeling like that, so he took a step closer and put a hand on his shoulder.

‘It’s alright, Marc. I’m sorry I said that… I just… I guess… I was a little jealous..’ he chuckled a bit. ‘But that is my problem. I shouldn’t take it out on you, sorry…’

Marc looked at him. ‘N-no, I’m saying… Y-you were jealous…? I… I… But I only like working with you, Nathaniel… And I don’t let anyone but you read my… stories… You know that… right?’

He didn’t. So Nathaniel blinked a bit. ‘…really…?’

Marc nodded. ‘I trust you more than anyone else… But as you don’t like Jonathan I didn’t want to put you in an uncomfortable situation since he… comes to me a lot…’

Oh.

‘Ah… You… don’t need to do that… I… was more troubled by your absence…’

Marc’s cheeks got a little pink and Nathaniel felt the knot in his chest untie slowly.

‘Well, I’ll stop doing it then,’ Marc said as he looked at him, a small smile on his lips. He was fumbling with the small strings of his hoodie a bit, and the knot untied some more.

Nathaniel smiled back. ‘Thank you, and… I’m sorry, Marc… I shouldn’t have said something like that to you…’

Marc shook his head. ‘It’s alright, I… never knew our… cooperation meant so much to you, so… I was a little surprised…’

‘Of course it does! You’re my writer, and more importantly, my friend!’ _And I love seeing you smile. I want to see a thousand more of them._

Marc looked up and his smile got brighter.

 ‘Ah erm, I took my bag, too… Do you… want to go somewhere, work on the comic there?’ Marc asked.

‘Sure!’

Nathaniel waited a little, and the lights in Marc’s eyes appeared. The knot was gone. It made place for something fuzzy, something warm, and Nathaniel didn’t dislike it at all.


	9. Day 9: Dance

The lights were flashing in every color of the rainbow, shining down on the students mingling in the crowd. The music was loud, but not too much, and Marc found himself fascinated by the way some of the teens let it lead their bodies, as they danced freely.

He was not a party person, far from, but he got convinced by a certain red-head boy to join the once a year school party, and how could he have possibly refused him?

It was actually not as uncomfortable as he had been afraid of, and as a writer he just liked observing the people around him as they enjoyed themselves. He counted it as a new experience, one he could see as a form of inspiration.

And he was thankful that Nathaniel was by his side. Otherwise, he would have definitely felt lonely. But his friend knew he wasn’t one for parties, so he hadn’t left his side, only now to get them some drinks.

Marc’s gaze was sucked back to the dance floor again, and he could spot some of Nathaniel’s classmates in there, dancing together. It made him smile. They were a great group, except for that blond girl named Chloé maybe, but Marc didn’t think she was evil deep down. Anyway, they looked out for each other. Always did. It made him feel a bit warm inside.

‘Marc, here you go.’  

The voice startled him slightly and he jumped a bit as he turned his head and looked into a pair of beautiful ocean eyes. Nathaniel smiled and handed him a coke.

‘Ah, thanks…’ He took it from him, drinking a bit.

‘So… what do you think?’

‘Of the party…? It’s nice.’

‘You’re not uncomfortable?’

Marc shook his head. ‘No, it’s fine. It’s good to experience one some time. And I’m glad you’re here with me.’

Nathaniel looked at him intently and it made Marc feel a bit naked, as his eyes pierced into his.

‘W-what?’

‘I was just thinking, you’re not really e _xperiencing_ the party, are you? You’re observing. Don’t you want to try and enjoy a bit yourself? Just for a bit?’ Nathaniel nodded at the dance floor, smiling a bit.

‘What? Me? Dance? N-no, I cannot.’ The very thought of himself on the dance floor spawned multiple worst case scenarios in his head, all mixing with each other in one huge nightmare and Marc quickly shook his head. ‘I’m okay with observing. But, if you want to, go ahead.’ He drank some coke, fumbling a bit with the strings of his hoodie as he averted his gaze.

Then, a hand on his shoulder and he was forced to look in his eyes again.

He was smiling softly. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of, Marc, no one will judge you. Believe me!’

‘I… don’t know…’

Nathaniel let go of him. ‘I won’t force you, but tell me if you make up your mind, okay?’

‘Okay… It’s just… I… don’t really know how to dance…’

‘Ah, but I could teach you, then! Experiencing a dance at a school party is an important reference for your writing, you know. We could use it in our comic, even.’ Nathaniel was grinning a bit, and Marc grimaced back.

‘Now you’re just trying to win me over.’

Nathaniel’s grin got a bit wider, and he held out his hand.

Marc’s heart almost seemed to be skipping a beat at that moment, his cheeks turning a light pink. There were a thousand thoughts running through his mind, like it was a bad idea, he would make a fool of himself, he would fall and let Nathaniel fall as well, he would be angry with him and he’d never be able to go to school again, but also Nathaniel’s smile was really beautiful, his eyes were too, they even seemed a little brighter than usual today, and he wondered what taking his hand would feel like and he just kinda _really_  wanted to and-

Marc took his hand.

But as soon as he did, the music changed. From upbeat pop songs to a suddenly very slow ballad.

Marc blinked, and looked at Nathaniel.

Who looked a little confused as well, but then smiled and pulled him closer.

‘Oh, you’ll definitely be fine now, Marc, slow dances are easy, you just have to follow my lead… If… you want to, that is…’

Nathaniel fumbled a bit with his hair, and there was something new in his eyes Marc hadn’t seen before. It was beautiful. He wanted to see more of it.

‘S-sure... If it’s you, then…’

Oh, no, no, no, that sounded totally wrong, that’s not what he had intended to say and-

‘Great!’ Nathaniel smiled, and pulled him on the dance floor, where multiple couples were already slowly dancing, arms entwined, bodies close.

Wait, wait, wait, _couples_?

Where they gonna-

Nathaniel took both his hands, and placed them on his shoulders, as he placed his own hands on Marc’s hips, pulling him closer as he started moving in sync with the music.

Everything happened so soon that Marc’s head was spinning, and his hands were probably super sweaty, and he felt like he was on fire, or at least his face was, and he felt Nathaniel’s eyes on his own, but he was so embarrassed and so scared that he couldn’t meet them, and he was looking everywhere but at him, even though he wanted to, he really wanted to see the look in his eyes-

‘Marc…?  Are you… uncomfortable? Should we go back…?’

He shook his head, because no, he didn’t want that…

Nathaniel’s arms felt warm and safe, and he was slowly starting to feel a bit more secure. He relaxed a bit more, moving his arms a bit more around his shoulders, and slowly, very slowly, forcing himself to look him in the eye.

Eventually, he did, and Nathaniel seemed… a bit nervous as well, occasionally averting his gaze but then looking back at him again. There was a hint of red on his cheeks and Marc thought it looked beautiful.

‘You’re not bad at all, you know,’ Nathaniel said.

Marc let himself smile a bit. ‘That’s because you’re doing all the work.’

‘Eh, I learned a bit how to dance,’ he smiled. ‘I’m not that good, but, it’s useful.’

‘For…?’

‘Well, a moment like this.’ Nathaniel looked at him. ‘I’m sorry, by the way… I didn’t mean to, erm, put you in this situation.’

Marc shook his head. ‘No, don’t say that... Like I said it’s… you so I don’t mind… at all…’

Oh man, what was he saying? Realization hit him immediately and he blinked, blushing.

‘I mean, erm, I uh-‘

There was no way he could ever form a sentence anymore, so he stopped talking and locked his gaze with Nathaniel’s again.

‘Hey, Marc…?’

‘Hm?’

‘You… you’re… erm…’ Nathaniel was… _blushing?_

Marc blinked. And his friend looked up at him suddenly.

‘Never mind, I’ll, tell you later, okay?’

The music stopped, and Marc saw the couples around them letting go of each other, rushing back to the sides or staying as they waited for the next upbeat song.

He didn’t really want to let go of Nathaniel.

Nathaniel wasn’t letting go of him either.

For some time, they stayed there just holding each other, glancing at one another shyly.

As the new song started, Nathaniel finally let go of him and took his hand, pulling him back to the side.

‘Was it easier than you expected?’ he asked, smiling slightly.

Marc looked at him. ‘I… enjoyed it, thanks.’

Nathaniel smiled a little brighter. ‘My pleasure.’

He didn’t let go of his hand.

Marc didn’t mind.

At all.

 


	10. Day 10: Medieval AU

Once upon a time, there was a son of a wealthy storyteller. The boy was always drawing. He dreamt of courageous knights and almighty dragons they had to slay, saving their kingdom’s princesses and princes. His favourite drawings featured the mysterious _Knight of Miracles_ , a legend and figure of hope within their kingdom. This mystical man always appeared when trouble was near and hope was lost, to save the day and banish despair.

One day, years ago when the boy had been out to collect medicine for his sickly sister, he had strayed from the path in the dark forest, and was attacked by evil robbers who wanted to not only claim his belongings, but his being as well, as soon as they found out he was the son of a wealthy family. They had begun to kidnap him, but before they could take him, an unknown man had appeared, saving him from those evildoers, and when he finally spoke to the boy, he had called himself the _Knight of Miracles_ and took him home. As soon as the boy had turned to him to thank him, the man had disappeared. Never again had he seen him, nor had he been able to properly offer him his gratitude.

The storyteller’s boy idolized the _Knight of Miracles._ To the point that lately, he had been all the boy was drawing. But he was never able to come up with a suspenseful, original story to accompany his drawings. Always, his scenes ended the same, and nothing surprising ever happened. Even though the people were interested in the mysterious _Knight,_ the people found his stories boring. His father was disappointed in him, and he ordered the boy to find a partner to help him improve in the art of storytelling, for drawings were not enough, not in his family. The boy had no choice, or his father would banish him from the family forever.

So the boy organized a contest, in search of a talented hidden writer, whom would be willing to team up with him to create the most amazing and wonderful stories, which he would turn into gigantic prints. He was dreaming of attracting thousands of people to their gatherings.

Many people joined the contest, and stopped by the wealthy family’s mansion to tell their stories. The boy was impressed by none of them, and turned them all down. There was something missing, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Then, one day, some pieces of parchment were delivered to his home, with countless elegant letters written on it. Unfortunately, the storyteller’s son was unable to read, much like almost everyone in the kingdom. So he took the parchment to one of his friends, who was specialized in the art of letters.

He read the story to him, and the boy listened, eyes closed, imagining.

_Diary of the Knight of Miracles._

_Today I saved the boy of a storyteller’s family. He got lost in the darkest forest, far, far away from the kingdom’s eyes. These paths were filled with evil, robbers, monsters, the creatures of the night. Yet he had still set foot there, all in order to save his sister’s life. Fortunately, the evilness of men had found him first, for if the nightmare creatures had found him, even I would have had trouble rescuing him. But those evildoers, I could handle without any problem. The job was easily done, and I took the boy home safely. His deep ocean eyes are ones that have been glued in my memory, and I find myself unable to forget them. Oh, if only I would be able to see him again… But being the Knight of Miracles comes with a price, and my identity must never become out in the open. Therefore, approaching him is a task I am too shy to accomplish, so dreaming about these ocean eyes is all I can do. And hoping that one day, I will gather the courage to speak to him._

The storyteller’s boy’s heart was pounding in his chest, and he had been listening with his eyes widened. He almost could not believe _the Knight of Miracles_ had written to him, and that the man had been thinking of him, too. It was unthinkable. And oh so wonderful.

His friend turned to him. ‘My friend, there is a note attached to this diary entry. It says that the writer wants to meet you in person, during sunset today, at the hill overlooking the village. I suggest you hurry, Nathaniel, for the sun is already setting of for the horizon.’

There was no need for his friend to tell him to make haste, for the boy had already grabbed his cloak and was running towards the hill, anticipation running through his body as he moved his feet, his hands slightly trembling. The village was already turning quiet, people closing their windows and doors, calling their children inside as they prepared for dinner. The boy, too, was late for his meal, but there were more important matters at hand.

Every step seemed to take hours and hours, and the boy was oh so impatient, but finally, at last, the hill was only a stone’s throw away. A figure loomed close, and the boy felt his nerves immobilizing him more and more.

The person was wearing a long, dark cloak, hiding both his face and body, so the boy had to come closer and get him to turn around. He cleared his throat, his voice slightly trembling as he spoke.

‘Is that you, _the Knight of Miracles_?’

The figure turned around, and the boy hold his breath. But then, the person took of his hood and looked him in the eye. They were green and big, but slightly familiar, confusing the boy to a certain extent.

‘Huh? Me? I’m not _the Knight of Miracles_ … It’s Marc, you know, the baker’s son across the street. Nobody knows I’d like to be a storyteller, and no one will approve, so I was too afraid to audition for your contest normally. I apologize for doing it the hard way.’

His eyes were innocent, but the boy knew better. A fire ignited within him, a big and angry wall of flame.

‘What? You dare to impersonate _the Knight of Miracles_? Do you think it is amusing to play with my feelings?’

The innocence did not disappear, and his eyes seemed to widen as the baker’s son spoke again, his voice trembling and wavering slightly as he turned to him. ‘N-no, not at all, I- I, just wanted to enter your contest. I would love to form a storytelling team with you.’

The fire got bigger, a little more and his body would start to burn. The parchment letters in his hands, the boy wanted them gone. ‘After you deceived and betrayed me? Together? Never!’ And gone they were, as he tore them apart, shattering them in one million pieces, they floated away with the wind.

And the boy turned around, his feelings hurt, his heart broken. He did not see the baker’s son fall to his knees as he cried, for he was already walking away from it all.

Hours passed and unbeknownst to the storyteller’s son, the boy he’d turned down had strayed off the path in the dark forest, falling prey to the creatures of the night. Possessing him, they had fed off his pain and sorrows, turning him into a monster.

Just as he was back home, staring at the night sky from his window after dinner, a mysterious figure appeared on his balcony, a familiar red cloak embracing him.

The boy jumped up, sparkles in his eyes, as he opened his window and spoke to the figure.

‘Is that you, t _he Knight of Miracles_?!’ 

The figure nodded, a finger against his lips, as he answered quietly, and beckoned him outside.

‘I need you, Nathaniel, someone has fallen prey to the creatures of the night, turned into a monster, it’s heading to the village. He has been calling your name over and over again, I think you’re the only one able to freeze his steps. Please come with me, and aid me on this quest.’

The _Knight_ offered his hand and the storyteller’s son took it, no hesitation, no time, but he was a little afraid, for a scent of foreboding was nagging his heart.

As the _Knight_ took him to the forest, his feelings proved right, because they ran into the baker’s boy, in the darkest disguise. The Knight pushed him closer, though a protective hand on his shoulder, ready for battle must the enemy strike.

‘I think you know what to do, storyteller boy, please speak from the heart.’

The boy closed his eyes and turned to the other, lost in the shadows, no more light in sight. He held out his hand and looked at him, searching for hope in his now dull green eyes.

‘I apologize, Marc, for the things that I said, for the parchment I’ve destroyed and the pain I have caused. Please let go of the darkness and come back to the light.’

The monsters within him hissed and prepared for attack, yet the boy seemed to be struggling, fighting back. The _Knight_ stepped closer and spoke clearly. ‘Don’t give in, baker’s boy, you have the power to banish them, it is your body, not theirs.’

The storyteller’s son’s heart seem to sink in his chest as he recalled once again the terrible things he had said, offering his hand one more time, looking straight into the other boy’s eyes.

 A shimmer of light seemed to return to them, and he moved his hand a little, getting closer to the storyteller’s son. Only a little more and the pact had been made, but the demons inside of him were still protesting. But he pushed and he pushed, tears falling down his face, when finally, finally, the demons made place. The _Knight_ ran after them and slayed them all, while the storyteller’s son and his writer stood together, and their hands joined at last.

It was the beginning of a new and fantastic tale, of a writer and an artist, forming the very best of teams. Their stories were the greatest and their prints breath-taking, gathering thousands of supporters as they started to travel from town to town. Not only their storytelling was a great success, also their friendship was blooming, even into something else.

They fell in love along the way and so in the end, the storyteller’s son had discovered his own _Knight of Miracles_ and this one had really captured his heart.

They lived happily ever after.

 

 

 


	11. Day 11: "I love you."

The mountain of envelopes was staring at him, begging him to send them, finally letting them fulfil their long-awaited purpose. There were at least twenty of them. And the collection was still growing. Marc blamed his head full of words, his heart full of feelings he was unable to convey. If only he’d be able to hand them to the person whom they were addressed to…  He sighed and once again put the envelopes away, preparing to leave to meet up with Nathaniel.

They had agreed to meet at one of their usual spots along the Seine, it was a quiet spot, and comfortable to work during the summer. Hugging his notebook, Marc walked on the riverbanks, and his body felt a bit numb, small electric sparks teasing his arms and legs as he moved himself forward.

His mind was filled with his soft smile and the way his ocean eyes lighted up whenever he spoke about something he loved,  the way he hid them behind his bangs whenever he was shy, the way tiny glitters danced within them when he was drawing.

Marc wanted to tell him, he needed to say to him those three little words full of meaning, because he deserved them more than anyone in the world.

But.

What if he would hate it?

What if he frowned in disgust, what if he laughed and walked away, what if the light disappeared from his eyes of disbelief and anger.

What if he could never ever see him again because of those three words?

The sparks sank to his legs and he pushed them forward with difficulty, sighing as he felt his hopes leave him once again.

He couldn’t say it. He could never.

There was too much at risk.

‘Hey, Marc.’

The voice awoke him and he looked up only to see those ocean eyes he found so beautiful.

The sparks came back and he smiled. ‘Nathaniel.’

The artist boy smiled back at him. ‘You were lost in thought, huh? I saw you walking but you didn’t notice me at all. I guess that means you got ideas for our next chapter?’ He grinned at him, and they walked a little further until they reached the bench they always used.

Nathaniel sat down, taking out his sketchbook. Marc joined him.

‘Always,’ he said, opening his notebook, but a single paper flew away, blown away by the wind. At first, Marc was confused, until Nathaniel caught it, faster than him.

Flashes of memories came back to him, writing another poem, but forgetting to put it in an envelope far away from his favourite notebook.

Oh dear god, no, it was too soon, too-

Marc quickly grabbed the paper, and Nathaniel looked at him, blinking as he still hold onto it.

‘Marc…?”

The sparks were everywhere, his stomach, his hands as they trembled and his cheeks as they flushed red. He couldn’t look him in the eye.

‘Ah, erm…’

‘If you don’t want me to read it, that’s alright, you know,’ Nathaniel let go of the paper, pushing it into his hands. ‘Everyone has secrets. There are… also some drawings I… can’t show you.’

Those words confused Marc and it was too tempting to try and read his expression, so he looked up to try. But it was hard. Nathaniel smiled a bit, but his eyes were half hidden behind his hair, and he was scratching his face a little awkwardly. Marc found it… cute…

‘Well, uhm, let’s… trade then?’ The words were gone before he could consider them and calculate all the possible consequences, and he bit his lip as a thousand worst case scenarios ran through his mind.

Bad idea. Very, very bad idea. Nathaniel was probably talking about drawings he was insecure about, thinking Marc had something similar. But if he agreed and read the poem then-

‘Ah, I mean, uhm, forget that I don’t want to push you, haha, let’s uhm, carry on and discuss the new chapter, shall we? I have some ideas we can use about-’

‘Sure.’

Marc stopped talking. Breathed. The look in Nathaniel’s eyes was calm, yet determined, gentle yet serious. He had trouble averting his gaze.

Nathaniel smiled. ‘I’ll show you one of the drawings if you let me read the paper. It’s a fair trade, no? Besides, I trust you, and you trust me, right?’

Marc was frozen. The sunlight glittering down on Nathaniel’s face as he spoke was a bit enchanting, causing shimmers of light on his hair and cheeks. It made his eyes even more bright ocean blue than he remembered.

He didn’t know how to say no, so he nodded, even though every single sense of foreboding screamed at him from the inside of his mind, begging him to stop this nonsense.

But his body moved at his own as he handed the piece of paper to Nathaniel, who took it from him, but didn’t read yet.

‘Alright, I’ll turn around, okay?’ He handed him his sketchbook, his finger on a certain page. ‘It’s this page. Don’t look until you’ve turned around as well, okay? We’ll give it back to each other after five minutes. If that’s enough time for me to read. D-don’t say anything before that.’

He was fumbling with his hair, and Marc found it adorable. He nodded. ‘O-okay.’

He took the sketchbook from him, and took a deep breath, turning his back to him. Electric sparks back as they glided through his limbs.

Nathaniel would realize. He wasn’t stupid. Had never been stupid.

There was no way back now.

He just hoped the artist would believe him… and take him seriously…

He sighed. He just had to trust him. They knew each other for two years now. Nathaniel knew Marc would never make fun of him.

He absently let his index finger go over the side of Nathaniel’s sketchbook. How would he react…? He shouldn’t have done this, he shouldn’t have… It was a bad, bad idea and maybe this was just a bad dream and he needed to wake up and-

He closed his eyes. Opened them. Nothing.

Marc sighed and opened the sketchbook on the page the artist had marked.

And he blinked.

He couldn’t understand the green eyes that looked into his from the page, not the messy almost-black hair, not the slight hint of pink colouring the cheeks, nor the hands covered by fingerless gloves, one of them resting under the chin of the person Nathaniel had drawn.

This…

It…

_Huh?_

No matter how long he stared, and how many times he blinked, there seemed to be no doubt.

_He was looking at himself._

‘Ah, Marc? I finished reading… You can… turn around now…’

Oh, no. He had almost forgotten. Nathaniel had read the poem. About ocean eyes and silky red hair, about elegant fingers making brushes and pencils dance and creating the most beautiful of scenes. About carefree, gentle smiles and a warm hand in his and how he wished to feel that warmth more often. About how he wished to see more and more of the small lights within his eyes and desired them to be looking at him the same way he looked at them.

He wanted to run and disappear and turn back time right there. But…

‘…Marc?’

He hadn’t noticed he’d turn around but with his eyes squeezed closed.

Carefully, little by little, he opened them, the sparks all gathering at the area where his heart was, forcing it to beat louder and louder as they caused the blood to rise to his cheeks.

Nathaniel was looking at him, a slight blush on his face as he hold the piece of paper tightly.

Marc stared back, unable to move, unable to speak, frozen solid.

The silent seconds seemed to pass at hours between them, and they finally spoke, both of them at the same time.

‘I-’

‘I-’

Marc blinked, Nathaniel did too, but he chuckled softly right after. It made Marc smile, the sparks in his chest calming down a little.

‘You go first,’ he said, fumbling with the strings of his hoodie as the tiny smile was still teasing his lips.

‘No way, you go,’ Nathaniel grinned.

Marc breathed. ‘I… I…’ He tried, but the words stuck. ‘Ugh. I… It… Ngh…’

Nathaniel just waited, smiling gently.

Marc closed his eyes. Exhaled. Opened them again. ‘I love you.’

He blinked, unsure whether he had really spoken the words out loud or if he had imagined them. To confirm, he glanced at the artist boy carefully.

His cheeks reddened and he was avoiding his gaze a little.

Oh.

Oh, great.

He had said them.

What would happen, would he yell, would he run, would he hate, would he disappear would he-

Nathaniel suddenly looked right into his eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.

‘I love you, too, Marc.’

He smiled. ‘Guess it made sense, huh?’ He pointed at his drawing, grinning.

Marc didn’t understand what was happening, and it felt like he was dreaming and watching himself as he answered. ‘W-well, for me, too, r-right?’ he nodded at the piece of paper Nathaniel was still holding.

Nathaniel moved a little closer to him. ‘Y-yeah. I… suspected it a little, but I was… too scared to believe…’

Marc moved a little closer as well, their legs touching slightly. ‘I couldn’t tell you… I was scared as well…’

Nathaniel smiled, reaching out, and Marc felt like he was on fire when his fingers softly touched his face.  ‘Marc… Can I… kiss you?’

Marc nodded and closed his eyes.

 


	12. Day 12: Magic

‘How about a man who believes to possess magical powers, and is been made fun of by his peers? And then he’s akumatized and made into a super villain possessing real magic?’

Marc flipped his pen around between his fingers as he looked at Nathaniel, who was sitting next to him, the pages of his sketchbook still white. They were at Nathaniel’s place, already after dinner. Usually, they’d stopped working on the comic right now and moved to watching a movie or playing some games, but they were behind on their usual schedule. All because they hadn’t been able to come up with a good villain yet.

‘Hm, so you want to use magic as a theme, then?’

Marc nodded.

‘Well, then, how about a villain who has eyes so enchanting his powers are able to trap everyone in his spell, and lead them to their demise?’ Nathaniel grinned.

‘Like a siren?’ Marc frowned a bit, noting down all the ideas they had so far.

He tried very hard not to think of a certain someone whose eyes he found enchanting as well, no akuma needed. Which was pretty difficult considering he was sitting right in front of him, smiling softly as the tiny lights in his ocean eyes glittered happily. They always did whenever he was working on their comic.

‘Yeah, something like that. But then a boy our age. With bright green eyes.’

Marc frowned some more, still scribbling in his notebook. ‘Green? Why not ocean blue?’

_Oh, shit._ Had he really said that out loud?

He quickly looked up from his writings, face flushed. ‘I mean erm, ocean like, the ocean, you know, as a reference to the sirens and stuff, haha, but that’s a design thing and that’s your part so just er, just an idea, you can choose you know, if you think green is better, then-’

‘Green is more beautiful.’

Marc breathed thankfully, having been cut off from his ramblings when Nathaniel interrupted him. Carefully, he glanced at him, and the artist was smiling gently at him, a hint of pink teasing his cheeks as he looked him in the eye.

Marc didn’t quite get it. Since when was Nathaniel one for green? He’d always been a bigger fan of red, or purple, or…

‘Especially when it comes to eyes, they’re pretty enchanting. Though it depends on the shade of course, and more importantly, the person,’ Nathaniel smiled a little brighter.

Had they… been sitting this close… the entire time…?

He had to remind himself how breathing worked as he spoke softly. ‘Hm, if you put it like that, ocean blue is a mix of blue and green, so also a shade of green, would that work for you?’

His face felt hot, and his hands a little sweaty, but he was unable to avert his eyes from his locking gaze. Too weak to stop the words that seemed to escape from his lips, they were apparently too fast for his common sense.

Nathaniel grinned. ‘Nope. I like very bright pure green more, like apple green, you know.’

Oh. Oh, wait-

Huh?

No, it couldn’t be-

He was-

Wishful thinking, yeah.

Definitely.

There was no way.

Marc forced the thought away, turning back to him.

‘Ocean green,’ he smiled.

‘Hey, what happened to that comment of me being in charge of the designs?’

‘I’m just helping you make the right choice if you want to do a villain with enchanting eyes based on sirens. But we could do my magical power idea, too?’

Nathaniel was suddenly close. Very, very close. Their faces only inches apart and Marc’s heart stopped.

‘A handsome wizard with apple green eyes, then?’

He could only look into those ocean eyes, even though his face was probably as bright red as his hoodie right now, and his anxious feelings were sending electric sparks through his body causing his hands to tremble, he still could not avert his gaze. Marc absently wondered if Nathaniel was secretly the siren he was actually looking for.

‘Ocean green. I have proof they’re enchanting.’

‘Well, I have proof apple green eyes are enchanting.’

Oh-

Nathaniel certainly wasn’t helping to get rid of his wishful thinking like this.

Everything happened slowly, like in a dream where he was both himself and watching himself from a distance, as Nathaniel reached out and touched his face, leaning closer.

‘Guess we’re having a small disagreement, then,’ Nathaniel said.

‘Y-yeah.’

He was certain the other could hear his heartbeat, if not feel through the tiny distance between their bodies.

Probably, he should have stopped all this weirdness before he did anything he would regret forever, and made his crush so obvious he’d have to move schools or cities or countries, but wasn’t it too late already, anyways? Hadn’t he given himself away at least ten times already?

Ugh, ocean eyes really _were_ magical. Even now, he was powerless.

But he didn’t mind.

Because at last, Nathaniel leaned in and Marc closed his eyes as their lips touched.

Afterwards, they decided on a villain with heterochromia.


	13. Day 13: Flowers

‘Why don’t you give him flowers?’ Marinette had exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly. She had been going on about how romantic flowers were, and that no one could possibly refuse them, also flowers carried meaning, so communicating his feelings would be way easier through them. Sometimes, Marinette could be a little overwhelming, so Marc had been unable to reply to her, and here he was. Nervously walking around in the flower shop near his home, with no idea what to buy. Still doubting if he should even get him flowers at all. It was a little girly, wasn’t it? Knowing Nathaniel, he’d probably be scared he was being made fun of, even though he now claimed to trust Marc completely.

Marc sighed, staring once again at the roses calling to him. They were a deep, enchanting red, and would definitely get the message across. But, it didn’t feel right somehow… Giving him a flower to say “I love you” felt like cheating, a very easy way to cheat even.

‘Can I help you, young man?’

Marc jumped a little at the voice, and looked next to him to saw an old man, smiling at him softly.

‘Anything you’re looking for?’

‘Ah, erm, I uh, I don’t know.’

‘Well, maybe I can help you.’ His eyes were a very gentle dark brown hidden behind glasses, his hair slightly grey. He was wearing a blouse and tidy trousers, not too formal, not too informal.

‘I… I actually… changed my mind, sir, I’m very sorry,’ Marc said. ‘I think I should speak my heart instead of using flowers… I’ll get going. Excuse me.’

He averted his gaze and hurried outside, breathing in relief when hugged by fresh air. For a second, he closed his eyes, thinking hard. Then he sighed and started walking away. Maybe the time was not right yet. Maybe he should still gather up more courage. Maybe then…

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded and Marc turned around in a reflex, only to see the door to the flower shop kicked down, and a figure stepping outside, covered in black flowers, leaving petals as he walked. It looked terrifying, and it was coming his way.

Marc was frozen in his steps, unable to move as he realized-

It was the shopkeeper-

Was he-

Akumatized…?

He looked around, searching for a calming red and black, but nor Ladybug, nor Chat Noir had arrived yet.

‘Don’t walk away from me, young man! You were the last straw! Nowadays no one wants to buy flowers! Old-fashioned they call it, those youngsters. Making fun of me, making fun of the flowers! Well, let me show you how terrifying flowers can actually be if you don’t use them to communicate your love! I sense doubt in your heart, young man. I sense anxiety. If only you bought some flowers… you’d be freed from this unrequited love, but too bad…!’

The man was closing in, laughing loudly. He didn’t make any sense, but Marc was still frozen, watching as this dark creature walked closer, and the only thing Marc could think of was, _this was my fault…_

He couldn’t have known the man was so frustrated. Of course.

But he was right.

He could’ve bought that single red rose.

Yet he hadn’t.

Like all those teens, apparently.

The man was only inches away from him now, and he raised his hand, as he grinned, more black petals falling down. ‘Taste the suffocation, young man!’

He aimed at Marc and he wanted to run but-

Suddenly, he felt sick. His stomach full of unease, his lungs aching with doubt. Slowly, but steadily, the sight from one of his eyes vanished, and he coughed.

In horror he watched, as pink blossom petals whirled from his lips, right into the hand he had held in front of his mouth.

He felt so, so terribly sick.

His head clouded with pain, he could only think of his eyes, his smile, his hands, his face, his everything, but far, far away from him, for always out of reach, only showing disgust whenever he looked at Marc.

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. He was suffocating.

He wanted to die.

He didn’t remember falling to his knees and crying, but only pink petals fell down instead of tears.

The laugh of the akumatized flowershop owner echoed loud in his ears.

‘Taste that, young man! The revenge of the flowers! You’ll never get freed from this disease, unless that one person returns your feelings! You should have given him flowers!’

And gone he was, leaving Marc alone, surrounded by petals.

He coughed.

He cried.

One by one, they fell down.

And Marc then realized.

Ah.

Nathaniel.

He-

He didn’t love him back.

Never did, never would.

Then, two hands on his shoulders. Familiar grey-blue eyes, worry within them. She took his face in her red-and-black covered hands. Telling him it would be alright. They’d find the akuma as soon as possible. And fix everything. Like they always did. He’d be fine.

But Marc knew he would never be fine.

He tried to tell her, but only more petals fell down, making his words inaudible and he just wanted to disappear.

Then she was gone, following her partner.

Marc crawled a little further, pushing his back against the walls of another shop, hugging his knees as he waited, trying to breathe slowly.

He had to trust Ladybug and Chat Noir. He would recover. This wasn’t real. This was caused by an akuma. A soon as they caught it, he would be just fine.

_No you won’t._

_Nathaniel still won’t love you, you know._

_Wake up and accept the truth._

_You are a coward._

_So scared to be rejected._

Marc closed his eyes, wishing for the nightmare to end.

He felt sick.

It was getting even harder to breathe.

Harder to-

Focus-

Ocean eyes-

Bright red hair-

Covering one of those eyes-

Long, slender fingers-

Those of an artist-

Gentle smiles-

But never-

Never ever-

Directed at him-

It hurt-

It hurt-

It hurt-

Hard to focus-

Dizzy-

Nauseous-

He coughed.

More petals.

Vision was-

Getting blurry-

Then, another hand.

He could hardly feel it, but he knew it was there. The fingers felt long and slender, and Marc carefully looked up. There they were. Ocean blue eyes, full of worry, full of confusion.

He was saying something, but it was-

So hard-

So hard to focus-

He got closer, putting his arm around him.

Marc didn’t know what he was trying to do.

And then-

Everything went dark.

***  
When he woke up, the flowers were gone. The funny feeling in his stomach had seized, and he could see again with both eyes. He got up. Too quickly. He saw stars.

And then-

Ocean eyes.

‘Marc…!’

Arms around him. A hug…?

Marc looked around him in confusion, they were in the park near the flower shop, Nathaniel’s jacket draped over his shoulders.

He absently wondered if he had dreamt everything up, but-

Nathaniel let go of him, then looked him in the eye, very serious.

‘Who?’

‘Huh?’ He blinked, sitting up slowly.

‘ _Hanahaki disease_. I… immediately recognized it. It is a fictional disease. Made real by Hawk Moth using that akumatized man, however… But, it exists in fiction. It appears when people are suffering from one-sided love.’

Nathaniel had a strange, almost sad look in his eyes, and it confused Marc. He deserved to know the truth, though. Or the leftover feeling of those flowers in his lungs would never disappear. He averted his gaze a bit, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks.

‘I… wanted to buy flowers… for… the one I like, but… I chickened out… That man… it really affected him… I should have bought them,’ he lowered his eyes, the feeling of guilt coming back to nag at him.

‘Who?’

‘Why… do you want to know…?’

There was anger now as Nathaniel shrugged, mixed with something else Marc didn’t quite understand.

‘I want to know who to punch.’

Marc blinked. ‘Punch? You?’

Nathaniel now looked at him, slightly offended. ‘Hey! I can punch people, you know!’ There was a small hint of a smile teasing his lips, however, and Marc’s heart felt a little less heavy as he laughed softly.

‘Ah, well… I don’t know if that would work,’ he smiled, the pink back on his cheeks.

‘Why?’

‘… unless you want to punch yourself, I guess…?’

There. It was out. Marc breathed. But he couldn’t bring himself to look him in the eye, instead focusing his attention on his gloves, fumbling with them awkwardly.

The silence was killing him, and he didn’t know what Nathaniel looked like now. He wanted to know, but he was a coward. That was something that would never change.

But then, a hand on his shoulder. So he had to look up. And he did. Slowly. Very slowly.

What he saw was not quite what he had imagined.

Nathaniel was biting his lip, blushing brightly as he tried looking him the eye, but he was occasionally averting his gaze.

‘Well…’ He then looked him straight in the eye. ‘I guess… The disease didn’t work properly, then…’

Marc didn’t understand. ‘What… do you mean…?’

‘I mean that…’ Nathaniel squeezed his shoulder. It hurt a little but Marc didn’t mind. ‘I mean that… your love is not… one-sided… So… the flower man was… wrong… And the disease… unfair…’

_Huh?_

_Wait-_

_What-_

_Oh._

‘…oh… Well, erm, I guess… I erm, c-could have b-bought you a r-red rose easily… then…’ Marc stumbled over his words, but it didn’t matter.

Because Nathaniel was smiling brightly at him and suddenly he was hugging him tightly. He was warm and Marc wanted him to never let go.


	14. Day 14: Holding hands

Marc blew in his hands, trying to warm them up a little. Maybe he should’ve changed his usual fingerless gloves for something more… winter-proof, but he had been so busy being nervous about today that he didn’t think about the weather. Anyway, he hadn’t expected it to become so cold so suddenly, frankly speaking. It was only the beginning of November, but it had cooled down drastically. Still, it was a beautiful day, clear skies, and the sun was trying his best to shine down, making the cold a little more bearable.

He was on a bench in front of the zoo’s entrance, watching as visitors passed by, couples, mostly boys and girls his age, some holding hands, some girls holding the arms of their boyfriends. Families, small children holding their mom or dad’s hand as they happily hopped from one leg to another. It made him think of when he used to visit the zoo with his own parents, long ago, and it made Marc smile a little. He hadn’t been here in a long time, actually. And today he was finally going again, with… the boy of his dreams... He buried his face a little in his scarf, blushing slightly.

It had been two weeks since Nathaniel had asked him to be his boyfriend, and they had started dating. And still, Marc felt like he was stuck in a dream. Today was their first official date and Marc hadn’t been able to sleep last night. At all. Because what were you supposed to do on a date? How were you supposed to act? Observing couples didn’t help Marc at all, because all of them were different. What would… Nathaniel want from him, as a boyfriend? Marc didn’t know. And he was more than a little scared to screw up. It was one of the reasons why he was so early.

Marc breathed, the cold air filling his lungs.

He just had to calm down.

Next to his boyfriend, Nathaniel was still his best friend, and he knew the artist boy would only want him to act as himself.

The thought made him relax a little, until he saw familiar ocean eyes and red hair, half-hidden under a beanie. His heart skipped a beat, and he wanted to run away and disappear at the same time as wanting to wave at him and call him over.

The first option was ridiculous, so Marc took a deep breath and waved at the other boy.

‘Nathaniel!’

The other heard his voice and a smile adorned his lips as he walked over to him.

‘Hey… Where you waiting long?’ Nathaniel asked, averting his gaze a bit.

‘Ah, a little, I m-mean, no, it’s no problem, erm…’ Marc scratched his head awkwardly, getting up from the bench, his head spinning with the words he wanted to say, but unable to properly let them out.

Nathaniel smiled at him. ‘Sorry for being a bit late. Let’s go?’

Marc nodded, following him as they walked off.

‘It was just me being way to early, though,’ he managed to say, feeling a little more at ease. ‘I was too excited. I haven’t been to the zoo in years.’

‘Me neither. I brought my sketchbook along, if you don’t mind.’

‘Of course not.’

If there was one thing he loved, it was watching Nathaniel draw. The way his eyes were totally focused on his work, his soul completely in a different world, one where nothing existed but a completely white landscape, and the pencil resting in his hands, with the power to create.

As Marc watched his boyfriend, he noticed he wasn’t wearing any gloves as well, and he absently wondered if his fingers wouldn’t be cold. Almost, he reached out, only inches between them.

But he pulled away quickly.

Maybe Nathaniel wouldn’t want to hold his hand.

It was a little… embarrassing wasn’t it?

All those couples did it, and they were only together for two weeks and they never actually walked hand in hand before and maybe some people from their school would be there as well and they would see it and start talking and they would make fun of them and besides maybe Nathaniel didn’t even like physical contact like that and-

‘Where do you wanna go first, Marc?’

Marc breathed, being pulled out of the ocean of chaos in his mind.

He blinked. He hadn’t noticed they were already inside. The road forked and they could choose the left or right, towards the penguins or the panda’s.

‘Hm, I like both, but… the penguins?’

Nathaniel smiled. ‘Alright, let’s go.’

He got a little closer and Marc wasn’t sure what he was going to do, until suddenly, a warm hand grabbed his own and pulled him along.

The blood rose to his cheeks and he tried hiding underneath his scarf in case Nathaniel would see it, but as he glanced beside him carefully, he noticed his boyfriend was blushing slightly, as well.

He breathed, and squeezed his hand softly.

Nathaniel squeezed back. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that for a while,’ he whispered. ‘C’mon, the penguins are this way.’

Marc smiled and his heart felt all warm and fuzzy, blurring his worries and overthinking. Today would be a great day.

 


	15. Day 15: Party

The lights were a bit too bright, the music just a bit too loud, the crowd a tiny bit too big. About half an hour ago, it didn’t bother Marc so much yet. He’d genuinely had a lot of fun, talking with his friends, listening to the music, drinking some soda, he had even been on the dance floor for a little while. But right now, everything was… too much.

He stared as the lights and sounds mixed into one big chaotic mess in front of his eyes, leaning a bit against the wall. He wasn’t sure what to do. Would it be alright to leave…? But he couldn’t just disappear, could he? People would wonder where he was, and maybe get worried even. That meant he should announce that he’d leave but… Everyone would ask questions…

Marc sighed.

Heavy.

Loud.

Ah, he wanted to leave…

Then, suddenly, just before he closed his eyes, a familiar face in front of him, forcing him to focus again.

‘Are you okay, Marc? Your face is pale…’ Nathaniel’s pretty ocean eyes were worried, and Marc didn’t liked that much. He preferred them happy.

‘Yeah, it’s okay… Just a bit overwhelmed. Maybe I need some fresh air.’

His head was spinning, complaining to him, screaming to get him out of that place.

He didn’t want to, because it was not the party, it was not the people, it was just…

His stupid head.

A hand grabbing his own, and he looked up to see Nathaniel smile softly at him. Marc noticed his cheeks were a little pink, possibly because it was warm in there, especially since he had seen him dancing just now.

‘Let’s sneak out, then? I’ll tell Alix. They won’t mind. We’ll walk around a bit, get some fresh air, and I’ll take you home.’

‘But… you were still having fun…’

Nathaniel shrugged a bit. ‘It’s no fun knowing my friend is not having fun. Besides, I’m getting a bit tired, myself. Go grab your coat, I’ll be right there.’ He squeezed his hand before letting go, and Marc watched him tap Alix on her shoulder.

His head felt a little less heavy, making place for some familiar electric sparks in his stomach.

Nathaniel was gonna walk him home.

He didn’t mind.

He offered it himself.

He was gonna get fresh air, finally.

Without needing any excuse at all.

He breathed.

And quickly went to get his jacket.

Only a few minutes later, they were outside, leaving the school behind them. Their year had organized a party  to celebrate the end of test week, and the fact that everyone had passed.

Marc closed his eyes, the only thing he could hear was the quiet rustling of the leaves in the wind and the only thing he felt was the cold wind blowing through his hair. He shivered a bit, adjusting his scarf.

‘Better?’ Nathaniel asked.

He nodded, opening his eyes.

‘I just… get tired. I mean uhm, not that it was boring, it’s just…’

‘Exhaustion?’

‘Yeah.’ He lowered his gaze a bit, pushing a small stone forward with one of his feet as they started walking side by side.

‘Nothing to be ashamed of. I get that. But hey, it was fun, right?’

Marc looked up to see those ocean eyes sparkling a little bit, and he couldn’t help smiling back at him. ‘It was.’

‘Then no need to feel bad about leaving.’

His face was feeling a bit hot, and he quickly pushed his scarf a bit higher again. It made him even more warm, but then he’d at least have an excuse for his red cheeks other than the way Nathaniel’s smile was making his heart flutter and soar, and the fact that him being so caring didn’t quite help with getting rid of that feeling.

Not that anything ever could. Marc had already fallen hard for the artist boy, and he was pretty sure it was impossible to get up, not unless someone stretched  out his hand to help him. But well, that someone always appeared to be Nathaniel himself.

‘Thanks, Nathaniel…’  he mumbled instead in his scarf, and the other squeezed his hand in reply.

Oh.

He hadn’t noticed they were still holding hands.

That was…

Awkward?

Nice?

…intimate…?

Marc didn’t quite know.

But it was definitely warm, a fuzzy and cozy warm. He was almost tempted to lean his head against his shoulder, but luckily there was still enough sense within him to stop him from doing so.

‘Hey, no problem… Should I take you home? Or… do you want to take a small detour along the Seine?’

Tempting.

His headache was already slowly fading.

It was cold outside, but he was well dressed, so was Nathaniel.

Besides, their hands were intertwined warmly, so there was no way he’d feel cold anytime soon.

But… wouldn’t it be weird to agree to it?

When he didn’t feel good at the party just now?

Wouldn’t Nathaniel think he just wanted to spend time with him alone and wouldn’t he find that stupid and disgusting and wouldn’t it mean he was lying and-

‘Only if you want to!’

Marc blinked, looking next to him. Nathaniel was avoiding his gaze, fumbling a bit with his hair.

‘I mean you didn’t feel well, so it’s probably best if I bring you home…’

‘Ah, erm, no, I want to… It’s n-nice outside tonight…’

Nathaniel then  looked at him again, small glitters in his eyes, like when rays of sunshine fell down and reflected on the ocean. Marc was mesmerized.

‘Right? The stars are really pretty. Let’s go for a bit, then. Not too far. In the direction of your home.’

So Nathaniel pulled him along, crossing the road to walk along the river, watching the quiet surface as the moon and stars shone upon it. Their hands joined, Marc’s heart warm and fuzzy.

They reached his home way too fast and he really did not want to let go of Nathaniel’s hand, but he didn’t have a choice. He pulled away from him, turning a bit so they were face to face.

‘Thanks for walking me all the way, Nathaniel. I… erm… really appreciate it…’

‘No need to thank me.’ Nathaniel looked a little uneasy, still fumbling a bit with his scarf.

Then he took a few steps closer until they were only  a few inches apart.

Those ocean eyes look straight at him and it was impossible to look away.

‘Marc?’

‘Y-yes?’

Everything happened way too fast for Marc to register, but he could swear that Nathaniel had just leaned in to softly kiss his cheek.

He wasn’t sure at first, so he absently touched his face to confirm, and then looked at Nathaniel, blinking.

He was half-dreaming, right?

Oh.

Oh, okay. Maybe he wasn’t-

Since Nathaniel’s face was a bright red, and he avoided his gaze for a few seconds before looking him in the eye again. When he did, he looked a little shy and Marc found it very cute.

‘Take care, okay? I’ll… see you at school Monday.’

‘W-wait, Nathaniel…? Don’t you erm, wanna stay? I mean… Your house is pretty far and it’s late and dark and erm… My parents won’t mind?’

Now it were his own cheeks heating up, but it didn’t matter, because it earned him a beautiful smile, plus the fact that Nathaniel nodded and followed him inside after opening the door.


	16. Day 16: Baking

‘Of course I’ll help you, Marc!’ Marinette had said, eyes twinkling brightly. Suddenly he wasn’t so sure anymore if it had really been such a good idea to ask her for help. Since, well, last time she helped out, things…. hadn’t gone that… smoothly. Still, she had the best intentions. Back then, and now, too. She always had. And what could possibly go wrong if she just helped him making the chocolates?

So Marc now found himself in the Dupain-Cheng bakery, waiting until Marinette came back with the right baking supplies. He was staring at the ingredients in front of him, fumbling a bit with his fingers. Suddenly, he wasn’t so sure anymore if it was such a good idea to actually bake something for him for Valentine’s Day… One, it was maybe a bit lame… Two, he had never baked something before. Three… he had no idea how Nathaniel would react… Frankly, he wasn’t even sure if the other liked chocolate. But he had too, right? There weren’t many people who disliked chocolate… right?

Marc sighed a bit. No matter how much he worried, he was already at Marinette’s place so there was no backing out anymore. If he would even try to mention it, he was convinced the girl would do more than just her best to push him to do it anyway. He just had to do it. And stop his cycle of overthinking for once.

‘Okay, I think I got everything, Marc!’ Marinette yelled from a distance, and she walked towards him, carrying some kitchen supplies. She put them down on the counter in front of them, smiling brightly.

‘You have some molds with you, right?’

He did, but-

‘Uhm, I do have some, but…’

He had already put them in front of him and he stared at them absently. They were heart-shaped, and Marc was wondering if they weren’t a bit too much.

‘Oh, these?’  Marinette had spotted them. ‘They’re perfect, so cute!’

‘Aren’t they a bit… uhm…’

‘They’re heart-shaped! Gets the message across, right?’ Marinette winked at him.

Marc averted his gaze a bit, the blood rising to his cheeks. ‘Maybe, but…’

‘Don’t be so insecure, it’s alright. Normal round ones would be boring, wouldn’t they?’ She smiled softly at him and started looking at the cocoa powder, reading the label.

Marc grimaces a bit. ‘You’re one to talk. Do you have any plans to make some chocolates yourself?’ He glanced at her, and Marinette’s face colored bright red.

‘Eeeeeeeh maaaaybe, I mean no, I mean, I’m just going to buy some, I mean, maybe bake when I have time, but he’ll get so many chocolates he won’t even need mine, Marc!’ For a moment she stared at him with big eyes, but then she sighed and put the cocoa powder back on the counter. ‘I don’t know yet,’ she said. ‘I might, tonight. Ugh.’

Marc smiled. ‘He’ll love yours. You’re good at baking, Marinette.’

‘Thank you, Marc,’ she smiled back at him. ‘But let’s focus on your boy first, hm?’

‘Ah…’ Marc scratched his head a bit awkwardly, the uneasiness again finding his way back to his stomach.

_It’ll be fine. If he hates it just come up with some sort of excuse. You’re a writer, you’re supposed to be good at making stuff up. And otherwise, you could always put it in his locker without signing it._

He breathed.

Yeah. It was fine.

‘Alright, I’ll explain it to you in an easy way and then you do it, okay? I’ll check if you’re doing it right. But I won’t do it for you, you have to put your own love in it.’ She seemed so happy, her eyes sparkling brightly and a big grin on her lips.

She meant well, but Marc did feel a bit alarmed.

_I hope I’ll be able to do it right…_

_Never really baked before…_

_I’ll probably burn something or-_

_Just screw up-_

_Somewhere-_

_Surely._

Then, a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Marinette nod at him in an encouraging way. ‘Come on, Marc, you’ll be okay! I’ll be right here,’ she handed him a spoon.

‘Okay, so first, we need to melt the cocoa butter. Very carefully so it doesn’t burn.’

Marinette went on to explain the whole process to him, it was quite a lot so Marc didn’t quite remember everything, but it was fine. He could always confirm the steps with her.

They worked together for a while, and Marc actually found himself relaxing slowly, the work being not as hard as he had been afraid of, and Marinette was assisting him very well.

At some point, however, as Marc just started on the next batch of chocolates, his assistant seemed a bit distracted, staring outside and then back at the small pan with chocolate.

‘Uhm, are you okay, Marinette?’ Marc asked.

‘Oh, I’m fine! Yeah!’ she smiled brightly. ‘I’m just gonna get some decorations, so, I’ll be right back, okay?’

Before Marc could even open his mouth to answer, the girl was gone and he shrugged. Sometimes she was like a whirlwind, doing so many things at once and jumping from one thing to another. He didn’t dislike it though. Marinette was a great friend, despite her mistake when he got akumatized…

He shuddered a bit thinking of the memory. It was far from something he was proud of, and it was still really embarrassing to remember.

Instead, he tried focussing his attention on the cocoa butter in front of him. It had almost fully melted. What was next again? Adding the cocoa? How much did he have to use again…?

He didn’t quite remember, so decided to wait for Marinette’s return.

Tree minutes.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Marc scratched his head a bit, wondering where on earth she could’ve disappeared to. It was taking long, way too long.

Oh shit, the butter.

What did he have to do again?

Right, cocoa…

How much…

Oh man…!

He took a deep breath and added some, stirring constantly, and added some more.

_Too much!_

_Or not…?_

He re _ally_ didn’t know…

_Ugh…_

Oh, right.

“Put your love in it”, wasn’t it?

As he continued the recipe the way he supposedly remembered, he tried to think of his deep ocean blue eyes, and the way they lit up whenever he was drawing. Of the soft smile on his lips when they talked about comics and movies and everything he was passionate about. He thought of how much he wanted to see that smile forever.

He dropped a spoon as that thought went through his mind and he quickly picked it up again, glancing around him, scared someone would come out to scold him. That didn’t happen. Marinette was still not back. What was taking her so long…?

Then, suddenly, a loud thud came from outside out of nowhere, and Marc’s heart skipped a beat as the noise went through his ears. In a reflex, he walked to the door to see what had happened.

What he found when he opened it was Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting an enormous heart-shaped villain.

Fascinated, Marc watched for a  while as the duo worked together to trap the akuma. He snapped out of it after a bit and quickly rushed back inside to finished the last chocolates. They were as good as done, they only needed to be in the fridge for a long time.

Just when he was beginning to do the dishes, the door from upstairs was thrown open and an out of breath Marinette was in the opening, walking slowly towards him, her eyes sad-looking.

‘Marc… I’m so sorry… My parents suddenly wanted me to run some errands and I didn’t expect it to take this long…’ She started looking at the last chocolates, examining each of them, immediately a smile again on her face.

‘Wow, you finished! You remembered everything?’

Marc nodded. ‘The only thing is I’m not entirely sure if they would be too strong, the taste I mean. But I think it’s fine.’

Marinette looked guilty, pressing her hands together. ‘I’m really, really sorry!’

Marc smiled at her. ‘Don’t worry about it, it all worked out.’

She breathed, relaxing her body. ‘Alright then, let’s put them in the fridge. You can pick them up tomorrow before school.’

***  
It was Valentine’s Day and Marc felt like his whole body was on fire the whole freaking day. The chocolates were still safely in his bag, and he hadn’t had the chance to give them to him yet. He was considering putting them in his locker but… if he did… what would even be the point?

He wouldn’t know it would be from him, he wouldn’t know they were handmade, he wouldn’t know… anything… and he had worked too hard for that yesterday.

So finally, when only the two of them were left in the art room, Marc reached inside his bag, the box with chocolates in his hand.

He breathed.

His heart was rebelling, pounding so heart it tried to leave the body.

He breathed.

Yeah, like that. Calming down. Everything was okay, he’d be okay.

A deep breath, then.

That helped.

His hand was out of the bag, and the box on the palm. He hadn’t gotten this far yet before.

A very, very deep breath.

‘Uhm, Nathaniel…?’

The boy looked up, surprised, meeting his gaze.

‘I uhm, got you something… Ah, open it when you’re home, alright?’ Marc held out the small box to him, staring as his cheeks colored pink. He wanted to look him in the eye, see the reaction within them, he wanted to, but he couldn’t. Too scared. Too chicken.

‘O-oh, t-thanks!’ Nathaniel took the box from his hands and put it in his own bag.

‘And uhm… ah…’ Marc scratched his head. _Come on, say it you coward! Otherwise he won’t even understand!’_

‘H-happy Valentine’s Day, Nathaniel…’ He couldn’t look at him, though.

But it was alright because Nathaniel laughed softly and it was one of the best sounds Marc had ever heard.

Then, rustling, and he looked up to see Nathaniel suddenly holding a small box as well. He smiled gently, and placed it in Marc’s hands.

‘You, too, Marc. Open it when you’re home.’

***  
When they got home, both of them received heart-shaped chocolates. Marc one accompanied by a beautiful artwork of their hero counterparts together. Nathaniel one accompanied by the sweetest love poem he’d ever seen. The chocolates weren’t perfect, but they were the best they had ever had.


	17. Day 17: Morning

One moment, Nathaniel was fast asleep, the other, he slowly awake, as warm rays of sunshine shone down on his face. His eyes opened slowly, lazily, the environment around him blurry at first, until he blinked a little and a familiar room but not his own appeared within his vision. Immediately, memories from yesterday came back to him and he turned to look next to him, where Marc was still sleeping peacefully. He was laying only a few centimetres away from him, and Nathaniel had to stop himself from reaching out to brush some loose strands of his hair out of his face, as a weak excuse to touch his face.

He looked so pretty like this, his eyes closed, his body curled up into a small ball, his face turned towards him.

Flashes came back again.

A slight pink blush on his cheeks, averting his gaze first and then suddenly smiling widely, small sparkles in his bright green eyes.

Long, elegant fingers, hands warm in his.

Staring a bit, back and forth, until the distance between them had become unbearable.

And Nathaniel had leaned in.

Because he hadn’t been able to stop wondering about what his lips would feel like.

They were as soft as he had imagined, or possibly even better.

The kiss had only lasted a few seconds, before he had pulled away.

A thousand thoughts spinning through his mind about how he had been reckless, about how he had possibly ruined their friendship and Marc would surely throw him out but-

But Marc had hidden his face behind his hands, blushing brightly. For a few seconds they had just stared at each other.

And then, confessions.

Nathaniel had spoken first.

Then Marc, stumbling over his words even more than usual.

Nathaniel found it the cutest thing he had ever seen.

Then, his heartbeat had finally calmed down, and Marc was slowly relaxing as well.

Some video games, then a movie, shoulder to shoulder they had spent the evening.

Nathaniel had felt warm, and safe.

The only thing he wanted was to close his eyes again and cuddle up against him, sharing their body heat, his breath against his cheek.

But on the other hand, he didn’t want to tear his gaze away from him, so for a while, Nathaniel just stared, his face felt hot of all the memories.

Then, after a while, Marc’s eyes slowly opened, he seemed half-asleep at first, then his bright green eyes met ocean blue ones. He blinked a bit. Then pushed himself up, rubbing his eyes.

‘Nathaniel…?’

‘Yeah,’ Nathaniel could do nothing but smile. He wanted to wake up next to him more often. Every day. For the rest of his life.

‘What time is it…? Have you been awake long?’ Marc seemed a little worried.

‘Ah, not that long. Don’t worry. I just didn’t want to wake you up…’ _Because I had the best view. Because your sleeping face is really cute. I love you._ Nathaniel couldn’t say all those things out loud. It was too embarrassing. One day, he was sure he would, however. For now, he just scratched his head a bit, blushing slightly, the words only in his mind.

‘Nathaniel?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Uhm…’ Marc averted his gaze a bit, and he fumbled with the sheets on top of his legs. ‘Did… Uhm. I mean, uh. Yesterday…’ Marc opened his mouth, closed it again, then looked at him carefully.

Nathaniel bit his lip. _Cute._ ‘It happened,’ he blurted out. _Should I help you remember?_ One more thought he couldn’t voice. He swallowed. Gone it was.

‘Do you… regret it?’ he asked instead, and he wanted to slap himself. That was not the right thing to say, either.

It made Marc blink, then his eyes widened and he shook his head. ‘N-no, o-of course n-not. D-do you?’

‘No way,’ a smile was tugging at his lips and he reached out, _finally_ , softly caressing his face. His hand was trembling a little bit, but it didn’t matter.

‘The only thing I regret is startling you… I should’ve warned you a little. Sorry.’

‘Ah, no, it’s alright…’ Marc smiled a little. ‘I’ve… had a crush on you… for a pretty long time, already…’

And deep down, Nathaniel had known that. That’s why he hadn’t been afraid. Why he had enough courage. Because really, he wasn’t all that brave. But a certain boy with apple green eyes made his heart soar and fly, pushing him to be much more than he ever thought he was. Marc had said it was the same for him. Together, they were better. Together, they could do anything.

Nathaniel lowered his hand, putting it over Marc’s, squeezing a little. The writer boy blushed a little, moving his fingers to intertwine their hands. Nathaniel never ever wanted to let go.


	18. Day 18: Art gallery

It was crowded at the Louvre today. At times, Nathaniel had to grab Marc’s hand in order to not lose him. Not that he disliked the feeling of his soft hand, warm and safe in his. Marc didn’t seem to mind either, as he smiled a bit shyly at him, his cheeks slightly pink.

The crowd was annoying, though. It was the first time they had gone to the art gallery together, but there were more people around than Nathaniel had ever seen. Beside actual interested visitors like them, and tourists of course, there also seemed to be a lot of school trips mingled in the chaos. Laughter and casual talk were dominating the silence. Irritated, he wondered if those kids had never had a proper education in which they had learned museums were supposed to be quiet places.

Sighing, he hold onto Marc’s hand as he tried leading him to one of his favorite sections. In the process, a girl probably a few years older than them bumped hard into him with her shoulder, and he lost his grip on the writer boy. Alarmed, he looked around to find him, but instead found the girl screaming at him.

‘Geez, can’t you like, look where you’re walking? Hello! I’m talking to you!’

Nathaniel lowered his gaze. ‘S-sorry.’ He then quickly turned around and Marc was already back to his side, his bright green eyes relaxing.

‘It’s too busy today…’ he mentioned, sighing softly.

‘Yeah, I know… We should have come some other day. I never thought there’d be so many school trips here today…’

They had been free from school early today, which is why they had planned to go today.

Marc shrugged, smiling a bit. ‘We couldn’t have known… Maybe the section you wanted to show me is a bit less crowded...?’

His smile was adorable, and Nathaniel felt his irritation soften a bit.

‘You’re right. I hope so.’

Fate decided otherwise. From out of nowhere, a large group of people came running towards them, a few of them yelling to get out of the way. Nathaniel quickly got to the side, pulling Marc with him.

‘What’s going on…?’ His heart felt heavy, beating painfully loud as he let his eyes shift over the hall, searching for whatever was the cause of the chaos.

_A fire?_

_Shooting?_

_Or… an akuma?_

‘Nathaniel?’ Marc’s voice sound a little worried and he turned to look at him, then noticed he was squeezing his hand. He quickly loosened the grip, but he didn’t want to let go of him.

_If I let go now… maybe I’ll lose him._

The weird thought settled in his mind and he breathed.

‘Sorry. Did I hurt you?’ he turned to him, smiling a bit awkwardly.

Marc shook his head, then turned his attention back to the crowd of people running away from their direction, furrowing his eyebrows a bit.

‘What… could have happened…?’

Nathaniel shook his head. ‘I don’t know, but we better get out of here as well. Don’t- uhm, l-let go, okay?’ He averted his gaze, biting his lip as he felt his cheeks darken a bit.

Marc squeezed his hand. ‘I won’t.’

They followed the people quickly. Behind them, a voice arose.

‘I won’t let anyone disturb this museum anymore! Get out of here you barbarians! I’ll turn you all into paintings!’

Nathaniel tightened his grip on Marc’s hand, increasing his pace. His heart was pounding loudly against his chest.

_Akuma._

_It’s an akuma after all._

_Get away…!_

_Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here soon-_

_Just gotta run!_

_Fast!_

‘Nathaniel!’

Marc pointed behind them, and just for a second, Nathaniel looked over his shoulder to see what he meant.

People were disappearing, and there were paintings on the floor everywhere.

Actually, Nathaniel could swear one of the paintings looked just like the girl that had bumped into him earlier, and her face looked terrified.

_Oh, no…_

_Could this mean-_

A loud laugh then echoed through the hallway, and behind them a man appeared, who was dressed in white clothing, but they were full of splashes paint in a huge variety of colors. His face was covered with them as well. He was wearing a headset.

‘If you won’t listen to my explanations I might as well just turn you all into paintings instead!’

_Exactly as he’d been afraid of._

The man tapped on his headset, and as if sending a sound wave, he aimed at the person just behind them.

Within seconds, the boy vanished, and a painting appeared.

Nathaniel’s eyes widened.

The akumatized tour guide picked up the painting, laughing as he put it up on the wall, next to one of the classics in this section of the Louvre.

_Ladybug, please…_

_Hurry up…!_

He squeezed his eyes shut as he ran, focussing on the warmth of Marc’s hand in his.

Then, suddenly, it was gone.

Nathaniel froze in his steps.

Looked beside him.

Marc was gone.

Instead, there was a painting on the floor.

He didn’t want to look.

Couldn’t look.

He was too afraid to face the truth.

Everything went silent to him, but he felt his vocal cords protest- he was probably screaming, although he heard nothing.

The painting was in his arms, although he couldn’t remember picking it up.

He still didn’t look.

Couldn’t.

But he knew what he would see up there.

He turned around, the akumatized tour guide was walking towards him and he backed away, slowly, step by step.

His heart pounding loudly, feeling lightheaded as his arms trembled.

The eyes of the tour guide were piercing.

‘B-bring him back!’ The words were there, suddenly. Nathaniel wasn’t even sure if he had said them out loud.

Probably, because the guide laughed. ‘No can do! It’s your fault for disturbing the peace!’

‘We didn’t disturb the peace!’ he felt a spark of anger then, because that- That was unfair.

‘Marc and I never did! Those kids did! We just came here to see the paintings! Please!’

‘Yeah, right. You children are all the same. Short attention spans, no freaking appreciation for art, just focused on your stupid talking, stupid phones and stupid loud music! Get out of my museum!’

‘I am an artist myself!’

‘That, he is.’

Nathaniel blinked, and within seconds, a familiar figure appeared, jumping between him and the akuma, as graceful as ever.

Upon seeing the always reliable red-and-black, Nathaniel, finally, breathed, hugging the painting against his chest.

‘Ladybug-’ he said.

She looked at him over her shoulder, winking. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll handle this! I mean, me for now, but I’m sure the cat will show up soon!’ She smiled, and Nathaniel just knew everything would be fine.

‘Go hide somewhere safe, Nathaniel!’

‘Ah, he- Marc-’

‘He got turned into a painting, didn’t he?’

Nathaniel hugged the painting closer, a wave of discomfort spreading through his chest. He felt nauseous.

‘Keep the painting with you and get away from here, Nathaniel. Once we defeat the akuma and I use my miraculous, everything will turn back to normal, and he’ll be with you again. Don’t worry.’

Ladybug took out her yoyo, getting ready to attack the akumatized guide.

‘Tch! You’re always disturbing my museum as well, Ladybug! I’ll turn _you_ into a painting!’ The man readied his headset, and Ladybug elegantly dodged the sound wave.

‘No thank you, I prefer staying real!’ she said, turning back again, locking her eyes with Nathaniel’s.

He blinked, a little startled. ‘Nathaniel! Quick!’

_Right-_

There was no use standing around, he was no superhero like his comic counterpart. He was just a teenage boy, and his most important friend, his- his writer, his-

Marc-

He got turned into a painting by an akuma.

He had to keep him safe.

Ladybug and Chat Noir would handle the rest.

Nathaniel nodded at Ladybug. ‘Be careful…!’

And he ran.

The only thing he know was putting one foot in front of the other, and holding the painting close to him with all he had.

He didn’t hear the akumatized guide anymore, so he figured he was fighting Ladybug.

Ladybug… She would handle this, wouldn’t she?

Marc would be just fine… wouldn’t he?

In a few moments, he would be there again, so he’d be able to look at his radiant apple green eyes, see that smile accompanied by a slight hint of pink on his cheeks. He’d be able to touch his hand again, intertwine his fingers with his own, soft and safe.

Nathaniel’s heart hurt.

_Please, Ladybug…_

_I’m… counting on you…_

He ran and ran, until he entered a section, which was his favorite one, the one he and Marc had been on their way too. It was quiet there, no people, no chaos, no akuma’s.

He stopped running, his throat burning and his lungs aching. Exhausted, he sat down on one of the benches, never letting go of the painting.

And waited.

Waited.

Waited more.

He closed his eyes, thinking of Marc.

He should… tell him… When everything was back to normal. He should…

Slowly, he drifted away as fatigue took a hold of him.

***

A soft hand on his cheek, and he was wide awake, eyes open immediately as he braced himself.

_Marc-_

_The akuma-_

_Painting-_

_Where-_

He blinked, and apple green eyes were right in front of him, staring into his slightly worried, but then they softened.

‘Nathaniel. What-’

_Marc-_

Nathaniel had no idea what had just happened, he only knew that he had suddenly wrapped Marc into a tight embrace, and that he was really warm and smelled like home and that he never ever wanted to let go.

Two hands on his back, and Nathaniel knew that the other boy was hugging him back.

He closed his eyes, ignoring the few stray tears that were falling down. He blinked them away quickly before he pulled away from him to look at him.

And breathed.

Marc spoke first. ‘Oh, we’re in the right section now, aren’t we?’

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows, then he understood, and he couldn’t help but grin. ‘Well, yeah. A lot happened but yes, uh, I actually got us here. And look, it’s just us here, peace and quiet. We have all the time to look around.’

Marc smiled. ‘I got turned into a painting, didn’t I?’

Nathaniel scratched his head. ‘Kinda, yeah. Wasn’t a lot of fun. I imagined our date a bit differently.’

_Oh, whoops-_

_Had he just-_

_Betrayed himself?_

As he carefully watched Marc’s reaction after his slight mess-up, he decided that it didn’t matter. Because the writer boy was blushing a bright shade of pink, and it was even more adorable than usual.

‘D-date?’

‘Well, if you… don’t mind thinking of it like that,’ Nathaniel said, scratching his head a bit, feeling the blood rise to his own cheeks.

Marc looked at him carefully. ‘I don’t mind.’

Nathaniel smiled. ‘Good.’

‘Then… let’s look around…?’

‘Let’s. Ah, let’s… have some dinner afterwards too, if you have time?’

‘S-sure.’

His stomach felt weird and fluttery, like little sparks of energy were spinning through it, and absently, Nathaniel wondered if this was what people meant by feeling butterflies.

He got up, holding out his hand, and Marc took it.


	19. Day 19: Kwami swap

The skies of Paris were dark and cloudy, it wouldn’t be long now before it started raining. Marc – no, Ladybug – was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, chasing after the akuma that had just appeared. Its abilities were still unknown, only that it was v _ery_ good at vanishing from sight, and that could mean nothing but trouble.

Marc chewed on his lip a bit, concentrating as he used his yo-yo to go from place to place, letting his eyes go over the area. Then suddenly, he saw a figure appear a few feet in front of him, before it vanished again.

He stopped, turning around to search, but nothing.

Frustrated, he furrowed his eyebrows. He had been ladybug since about two months now, but the akuma’s had become stronger and stronger. Up until now, he’d been able to handle them on his own, but… The last one had been a close call, and he had a strange feeling that this one was going to give him a very hard time.

Maybe he needed some help… Tikki told him that usually, another kwami should’ve joined them already, but... Up until now, nothing.

No-

Even if that were true, he couldn’t afford to lose confidence.

He was ladybug, he was the only one who could protect Paris against the evil Hawk Moth-

Everyone counted on him.

Or, her…

Since, apparently, the inhabitants of Paris had dubbed him a ‘she’. Since, well, ‘lady’-bug…

Ah well, it didn’t really matter as long as his identity was safe. And that helped, kind of.

Right, focus-

In front of him, the figure appeared again, only a few feet away, and Marc braced himself.

The akuma was wearing a black garb, draped around his body and face, leaving only his eyes visible. He was carrying a long sword, a katana, Marc knew, on his back.

He started into the villain’s eyes, waiting for him to make a move, but nothing happened. There was no voice, no action, and Marc’s grip on the yo-yo loosened a little.

Then, the villain disappeared again.

Panic arose within his chest and he clutched the yo-yo, flashing his eyes from left to right, left again.

Oh, god, no, where _was_ he-

There.

Right in front of him, the villain appeared.

Hitting him in the face hard.

Marc stumbled, but kept on his feet, falling back quickly-

His heart thumped painfully against his chest, and his face burned.

He could swear he felt some warm liquid trailing down his cheek, too.

The villain closed his eyes, pushing his hands in some weird kind of gesture, and suddenly a dozen of copies of him flickered around him, trapping Marc in a circle and he was done for, he-

What-

What could he possibly do?

‘Trapped in a spider’s web, you are,’ the villain suddenly spoke and Marc quickly spun around, trying to find the original.

But-

He could never-

Their clothes were covering their lips, and there were too many-

Way too many-

Think, think, think!

The lucky charm…?

But, so soon, already?

He still needed to defeat the villain!

He couldn’t do that if he changed back already, there was no time to get Tikki something to eat!

They were closing in-

Breathe-

He had to breathe-

Closer, they moved-

Closer-

And then-

All gone.

Marc blinked, and a young man appeared, dressed in a skin-tight black suit, and with red, wavy messy hair, reaching just a bit under his chin. He was wearing a mask- just like him, but it was black, showing only a pair of deep turquoise eyes, looking at him mischievously. Two small black cat ears stood playfully on his head.

He was carrying a metal stick, with which he had obviously just slapped the villain, as he had fallen back, and his copies had disappeared.

‘Hello there, need a hand?’ He grinned, holding out his hand.

Marc blinked once again, and he then stood up quickly.

Something inside of him was screaming that he couldn’t blindly trust this person.

After all-

If he was a superhero, then-

Where on Earth had he been this entire time?!

‘I- had it under control,’ he said.

Which wasn’t true, but now his heartbeat was finally calming down and he quickly faced the villain.

‘Oh, really? Looked to me as if you were in a pinch, Ladybug. And like I just saved Paris’ greatest superhero. A nice debut for her partner, Cat Noir, don’t you think?’

_Cat Noir…?_

_Also, again with the ‘her’-_

But there was no time to talk-

The villain was trying to use his abilities again, moving his hands and Marc quickly acted, throwing the thread of his yo-yo, trapping the ninja’s hands, but before he could continue the attack, he vanished, _again_. And re-appeared a few feet back.

 Marc groaned.

‘Hey, don’t ignore me!’

‘I’m not intending to! But we have a problem here! Let’s talk afterwards!’

In a single graceful movement, Cat Noir was next to him, spinning his metal staff around, getting in position to fight.

‘Great idea. Now then, I’ll tell you about my power quickly. I can use my Cataclysm to break anything I touch but I-’

‘Transform back again after about five minutes?’ He glanced next to him, and Cat Noir grinned, nodding.

‘Same with my lucky charm,’ he smiled back a bit. ‘We have to be careful then. The problem is, that I haven’t figured out where the akuma is located, yet…’

‘It’s not in the katana?’

‘I thought that, too, but he’s hardly using it…’

‘Hmm… Is that a problem…?’

‘I’m not sure…’

The villain appeared again and Marc jumped to the left quickly before he could attack him, and he noticed Cat Noir’s moves were mirrored to his.

He smiled a bit. ‘You’re not so bad, actually.’

‘Of course not, I’m a superhero,’ the boy grinned.

He certainly liked calling himself that-

Marc rolled his eyes a bit, but smiled.

He couldn’t blame him, really. He himself had been a big fan of superheroes out of comic books and movies for ages, and now he was actually one himself. It didn’t really feel like that, most of the time.

But maybe, together with this… partner…? Things would get a little less heavy.

‘Well, then, only one way to find out if the akuma’s in there, or not.’

‘Oh?’

‘Let’s break it,’ Cat Noir grinned and he jumped right in the direction of the villain, and they fell into a dance in which the Cat used the stick, and the villain kept dodging, disappearing, re-appearing, trying to get away from him, but it was no use.

He then pulled his kantana, and they clashed.

While Cat Noir was busy-

He pulled the strings of the yo-yo, pulling it on his hand only to throw it in an upward motion.

‘Lucky charm!’

From out of nowhere, a small jar fell down and Marc caught it, frowning. As he looked a bit more closely, he noticed there was glitter inside, in all colors of the rainbow.

_What-_

_Am I supposed to do with this…?_

‘Ladybug! I can’t hold him off for long! There’s not enough time for me to use the Cataclysm, especially if he keeps disappearing!’ Cat Noir’s voice called out.

_Disappearing-_

_That was it!_

‘Cat Noir, fall back!’ Marc jumped up, running towards the two of them and as he got closer, and his partner pulled away a little, he opened the jar, covering the villain in a thousand shades of glitter.

He turned around, bracing himself to fight, and just as he had hoped, the villain went invisible again, but this time, they could see exactly where he was going.

‘Oho, great thinking,’ Cat Noir grinned. ‘That’s one less problem.’

He swung around the metal stick, once again engaging with the villain as Marc used the string of his yo-yo to trap his legs, making him fall down.

His invisibility wore out and-

‘Cataclysm!’ Cat Noir yelled and he touched the katana, breaking it in two.

And there, _finally_ -

The little black butterfly.

Marc acted quickly, catching the akuma.

‘That’s no more evil-doing for you,’ he grinned, as he de-akumatized the butterfly, setting it free.

After letting his lucky charm restore everything back to normal, he turned to look at the villain, no- victim.

It was a boy, about 10 years old, and a fake katana was in his hands. He looked at them a bit sadly.

‘I just… wanted to be a real ninja…’

Marc breathed.

Closed his mouth.

Then walked towards him, holding out his hand.

The boy looked at him for a bit, confused, and then took it.

Marc pulled him up, smiling softly.

‘Do you like drawing? Or writing maybe?’ he asked. ‘Because you know, anyone can be a ninja, a knight, a hero- anything you want, if you use your imagination.’

The boy seemed to be thinking for a moment, then smiled. ‘Thanks, Ladybug.’

‘You’re welcome.’

The boy ran off.

Then, a soft pat on his shoulder and he turned to meet Cat Noir’s bright turquoise eyes.

For a moment, a short moment, they seemed a familiar ocean blue-

Nah, it couldn’t be.

‘We made a good team, didn’t we? Turns out you needed a hand after all… or should I say a paw?’

Marc blinked.

_…really?_

‘I guess so. Thanks for your help… Cat… Noir?’

‘That’s me! At your service, milady… Nah, milord, isn’t it?’

_He… had noticed?_

He had probably been staring, because Cat Noir chuckled softly after a moment. ‘Guess I got it right, then? Most ladybugs are actually male, after all.’ He winked.

Marc opened his mouth.

Closed it again.

_Oh well, it didn’t really matter that much, did it? It was not as if he knew his identity._

‘Don’t worry, I’ll gladly keep your gender a secret, especially if it means only me knowing,’ Cat Noir grinned a bit, it was almost a _smirk_ -

Marc opened his mouth, wanting answers for that ambiguous remark, but-

His miraculous was bleeping.

‘Ah, I-’

‘Gotta bounce? Me too, actually,’ Cat Noir scratched his head a bit, then saluted.

‘See you soon, Ladybug.’

Marc smiled. ‘See you soon, Cat Noir.’

And he quickly ran away, hiding in a narrow alley. Just in time, for his transformation disappeared, and an exhausted Tikki fell into his hands.

‘Whew, looks like Cat Noir finally appeared!’ she said gleefully. ‘Now we can catch our breathes a little, it’ll be nice having someone watch your back!’

‘Definitely. It’s gonna take a while to get used to these puns though…’ he grimaced.

TIkki giggled. ‘Oh, you’ll be fine.’

And Marc had a feeling that indeed, he would.


	20. Day 20: Surprise

The lights in his bedroom were dimmed a little, only the small lamp on his desk was lighted up, shining down on the comic page Nathaniel was working on. Earlier today, he had met up with Marc to go through the script for the end of their current arc, but… Something was not quite right.

Nathaniel sighed, putting down his pencil and looking down at his sketches.

There, after fighting the strongest enemy so far, the Mighty Illustrator – his hero counterpart – had become quite emotional, as they had almost lost half of their team to the enemy. In the story, a few weeks had passed and the Mighty Illustrator had become unable to ignore his love for Ladybug any longer after what had happened. He was about to confess his feeling to her.

It was of course Marc who had come up with the script. In the Ladybug Diary he had written, Ladybug returned his feelings, and he had asked Nathaniel to include this in their comics. Nathaniel had agreed at first, but…

No-

It wasn’t right.

It was all terribly wrong.

Not the setting, not the script, no.

These were all perfect. It was the right dose of romance, since Ladybug would tell him she loved him, too, but that they had to focus on saving Paris. They would continue fighting side by side, showing affection to each other every now and then, but nothing that would carry the rest of the plot too heavily.

It was good, because it showed Ladybug’s feminine and fragile side, but also her strength, because she easily knew which was more important; fighting evil or her personal romantic life.

It was all good, but-

Nathaniel sighed.

It was true. A long time ago, he had been mesmerized by Ladybug. He possibly even had a crush on her for a while, but…

Nathaniel wasn’t stupid. He knew perfectly well that being in love with a superhero would lead to nothing at all. So he had set those feelings aside already, reducing them to nothing but admiration, which of course, he would never lose.

But-

Marc and he, the both of them always liked to see their superhero counterparts as parallel to themselves. Different somehow but still, essentially, the same.

With this…

Was Marc implying he still had feelings for her…?

Was he-

Saying-

Nathaniel dropped his head on the desk, closing his eyes.

His head hurt.

It was all wrong.

But he respected Marc’s writing, loved his ideas, and he didn’t want to criticize them.

What could he possibly-

Would he-

He had an idea, but-

He just hoped the writer boy wouldn’t get mad at him for changing his script.

But this was his one chance to set it all right.

Nathaniel took a deep breath, and grabbed a fresh piece of paper.

He started drawing.

***

There was an uncomfortable knot in his stomach, and Marc had to inhale and exhale deeply in order to prevent feeling nauseous. He was walking towards the park near his home, but his legs felt like they were made out of stone, since it was getting harder and harder to move them forward.

This afternoon, he had found a note in his locker from Nathaniel.

_I need to tell you something. Let’s meet at the park at 16:00._

_-Nathaniel._

Something was going on.

He had noticed.

The way Reverser always looked at the Mighty Illustrator in their comics.

The way he always blushed whenever their eyes met.

The admiration hidden within them.

He knew and now he was going to confront him.

And then he’d break their friendship.

_‘I’m in love with Ladybug.’_

_‘You’re just a friend.’_

Yes, that’s what was going to happen.

And he was nice enough to say it face-to-face instead of dropping a simple message.

Rejection.

That’s what was waiting for him.

Marc breathed.

He was scared of the coldness that would surely wash over him as soon as he heard those words.

They wouldn’t come unexpected, but still-

He’d-

Feel the cold.

Feel the rejection.

And he was a coward.

Heavier, they were, his feet.

Even more heavy.

The knot tightened.

He felt like he was going to throw up.

The park was getting closer, however, and from the distance, he already noticed Nathaniel’s red hair.

He froze.

What if he just-

Walked back-

Pretended he never read that message?

Just run away from it all, just-

Protecting himself-

There was nothing wrong with that, wouldn’t it?

No-

He couldn’t.

He had to face his problems.

Look them right in the eye.

That’s what a superhero would do.

Marc was no superhero, but he could act like one, for at least once.

Because it was for Nathaniel.

So he breathed-

And once more-

He took one stop forward-

Froze again-

But he then sighed and continued walking.

As soon as he entered the park, stepping on a lost leaf, causing a rustling sound, he felt Nathaniel’s eyes on him.

No turning back.

He looked up, meeting his gaze.

Nathaniel smiled, and his heart fluttered, but went cold again right after.

Because that smile was just a polite one-

‘Hey, Marc, you found the note.’

He nodded. ‘Y-yeah.’

Some more steps, and he was there.

They felt far away, yet way too close.

Then, without noticing, he was next to the artist boy.

‘Sit down, I have a surprise. Something to show you.’

Nathaniel averted his gaze a bit, his cheeks slightly red and he reached inside his bag.

_Surprise?_

_Show him?_

He didn’t want to reject him directly, then?

Marc sat down next to him quietly, putting enough distance between them for it to be normal.

Friend distance.

Maybe a bit too far for that, actually-

Nathaniel shuffled a little closer.

Politeness-

It only hurt.

Then, Nathaniel sat straight up again, and pushed a bunch of papers in his hands. Looking at him, scratching the back of his head a little awkwardly.

Marc blinked, staring. They were comic pages. Of the end of the arc they were working on. The one in which the Mighty Illustrator was supposed to confess his feelings to Ladybug. Why was he giving them to him here and why had he written a note for just that…?

‘I uhm, changed them a little bit…’ Nathaniel said. ‘I know the script is your part, but… it just didn’t feel right. So I made a proposal. This is it. I only need your approval.’

_He… probably add a kiss there… didn’t he…?_

_Or made it just a bit more romantic…_

_It had to be something like that…_

Marc looked the other way. ‘You’re the artist, you don’t need my approval.’

‘Of course I do! This is a project by the both of us, not just me!’

He sounded a little angry, so Marc looked next to him, a bit startled.

There was something within Nathaniel’s ocean eyes.

Something he couldn’t quite place.

Then it was gone, and his eyes softened.

Nathaniel avoided his gaze.

‘Just… read them… please?’

The words were really quiet, and the artist suddenly looked… fragile. Marc felt guilty knowing it was caused by him. Because he hadn’t taken him seriously. And if there was something Nathaniel hated, it was if someone didn’t take him seriously. Marc knew that more than anyone.

‘O-of course.’

He breathed, and looked. He didn’t really want to see the Mighty Illustrator kissing Ladybug, but he was going to have to.

The scenes looked the same, the Mighty Illustrator was worrying about something, impossible to ignore his feelings any longer after almost having lost Ladybug and the rest of his team. He felt like he had to speak out his feelings. Marc raised an eyebrow, because the phrasing was different, in the original it said “his feelings for her”, but the gender was gone now. It was just… “feelings”.

He went to the next page, and he dropped it.

His fingers shivering.

‘…why…’

There was someone else there.

Someone else receiving the Illustrator’s confession.

There was no Ladybug.

It didn’t even look like her, no.

But it wás a member of his team he was confessing to.

It was…

Nathaniel picked up the paper, handing it back to him, but he didn’t meet his eyes.

‘…do you hate it…?’

His hands were trembling, making it hard to look at the drawings properly, but he tried.

_No, it couldn’t-_

_Couldn’t be-_

_Was he dreaming, maybe?_

_Or was Nathaniel mocking him?_

He looked next to him, but the artist boy was still staring at the trees on his right side, avoiding his gaze. That didn’t look like someone who was joking, at all.

_Then… did he think this Ladybug belonged with Cat Noir…?_

_Or with no one at all…?_

_Maybe he was too afraid to draw Ladybug returning his feelings, when in reality… it wasn’t quite true?_

_So… he changed it all?_

Marc didn’t know.

His head was spinning and aching.

And he read on.

But the pages stopped.

‘It’s… not finished…’

Nathaniel looked up, finally. Ocean eyes meeting apple green ones.

‘That’s because I don’t know how it would end, like this.’

The blood rose to his cheeks, and-

_He knew._

_He was testing him._

_But, then, why-_

_Why was Nathaniel blushing as well?_

_Why were his hands trembling just as much?_

_Was he-_

_He-_

_No-_

He had to tell the truth.

No matter what reason Nathaniel had.

He couldn’t lie.

So he inhaled. ‘Well, I know how it would end…’

‘How?’

He breathed. ‘He would… would… hngh…’

Words were spinning, mingling, mixing, one big ocean of thoughts and letters, unable to form the right sentences.

He stopped.

Breathed again-

Looked at Nathaniel-

Who was waiting, patiently.

‘H-he… Reverser… would… b-be happy… C-cry a little, maybe… B-blush a lot… And then… Tell him… He had always loved him… Since the moment they had met…’

Somewhere along the way, Marc had averted his gaze again, too scared to look Nathaniel in the eye, too much of a coward.

But suddenly, slender fingers cupping his cheek, and automatically, Marc turned his head, about to finally meet his gaze but-

Soft lips on his-

He closed his eyes-

And his heart was soaring.

Before he could even fully realize what was happening, Nathaniel pulled away and smiled at him, his cheeks almost as red as his hair. It was cute.

‘I… guess it would end like this… then?’

Marc felt like he was on fire, somewhere far away, somewhere that wasn’t real, but as Nathaniel grabbed his hand and squeezed softly, he knew this was anything but a dream.

‘I guess it would,’ he whispered.


	21. Day 21: Mermaid/Pirate AU

The first time Marc saw him, he had thought he was dreaming. It was early in the morning, about 6AM, during that time he was the only one awake on the ship. Because it was the only moment he could let his guard down a little and just think, look at the horizon, for just a short while feeling the illusion of freedom. He was standing on deck, leaning against the railing of the ship, his eyelids partly closed as the sunrise was blinding him. It caused golden glitters, dancing on the waves of the ocean. It was enchanting, no matter how many times he watched it.

Then, something appeared in the water, and Marc blinked. _A dolphin?_

But it was gone again. He frowned, rubbed his eyes and looked again.

There it was again. A lot closer.

He saw a hint of red, and he blinked again. Dolphins weren’t red.

Closer again, and then Marc saw.

He saw those beautiful ocean eyes, with just a small hint of green making them stand out from the actual water.

He saw the silky, slightly wavy red hair, almost covering one of their eyes, falling around the face, reaching to the chin.

The features of the creature were beautiful, almost feminine, rounded and soft, but still with a sharp jawline, making their appearance very androgynous.

For a while, Marc stared into those deep, ocean eyes, and they stared back. Until after a while, they turned around and dove underwater. In the process, a large, turquoise colored tail reached the water’s surface, and disappeared behind them.

Marc’s eyes widened, and he didn’t realize he was clutching the railing so hard until he saw his knuckles turn white and he let go.

He-

He was dreaming, right?

***

The second time, he saw him, it was while he was cleaning the deck, during noon.

They had been harassing him about not doing his chores well enough, which was, of course, not true, but they just liked making his life even more miserable than it already was. On top of that, they also enjoyed belittling and mocking him, so they had ordered him to clean the ship with only a small towel, so he had to clean it thoroughly almost every five minutes, and the water he was using also turned dirty soon, so he was constantly refreshing it. It felt like the chore would never end.

Marc sighed.

_Does it even matter what chore I’m doing, though?_

_I’ll be stuck here for the rest of my life._

_Or for as long as they will decide not to feed me to the sharks._

So he cleaned, and cleaned some more.

Then, when he turned around, his face focused on the direction of the ocean, he saw a familiar hint of red, as their face was just above the surface.

They seemed to be floating there, watching him with ocean eyes.

Alarmed, Marc glanced around him, but luckily, they were not in sight.

Yet.

He dropped his towel and leaned as close to the edge of the ship as he could.

‘Go away! Quick! They can’t see you! They’ll catch you!’

The creature blinked, than swam closer.

‘N-no, please! I said turn around! You have no idea what they’d do to you!’

‘But _you_ ’re not doing anything, are you?’

Marc almost lost his balance and fell in the water when he – obviously he, now that he had heard his voice – replied to him.

He blinked a bit, staring, unsure if he had imagined the words or not. The creature seemed amused, his eyes lighting up a bit as a smile teased his lips.

‘Didn’t think I could speak?’

‘Uh…’

‘Got it right, huh?’ He smiled a bit wider.

_Beautiful._

‘P-please,’ Marc then managed to say. ‘It’s because I’m just a normal person, but they… They’ll catch you and sell you on the black market. I beg of you, bring yourself to safety-’

He furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Then, what about you?’

‘I’m… stuck here…’ he scratched his head. ‘I can tell you the whole story but _please_ , not while they’re awake. Come back here at 6 in the morning, by that time, they’re all asleep until noon or-so.’

He seemed to be thinking for a while, and then nodded. ‘Alright. But… may I have your name, at least?’

‘It’s Marc.’

He smiled. ‘Thanks.’ And gone he was, his tail trailing behind him.

Marc didn’t have time to ask for his name.

***

He had been haunting Marc’s thoughts for the rest of the day, and night. So as soon as dawn fell, and the sounds of laughter and drinking died out, he hurried to the deck, not even feeling a slight hint of the cool morning breeze, his mind elsewhere.

He didn’t even have to wait, because when he arrived outside, he could already see the familiar red hair and ocean blue eyes.

When their eyes met, he smiled at him, swimming a little closer. Marc’s heart jumped, and he pushed himself against the railing as far as he could.

‘You came.’

‘Of course. You asked me to.’

‘I-’

_Still thought I’d been dreaming-_

As if he could hear Marc’s thoughts, he let his tail go out of the water, slightly, moving it a little.

He chuckled a little then, and Marc blinked.

He had been staring, probably, definitely-

‘S-sorry.’

‘I figure you’ve never seen a merman before?’

He breathed.

Somewhere deep inside, he’d known, but-

Mermaids, mermen, they were legends, myths of the common people. They didn’t exist.

Sure, he wrote stories about them, he had done so for as long as he could remember, but-

He’d never, ever thought his fantasies would be true.

‘That’s okay, though. You’re the first human I’m seeing, too.’ The merman smiled, wiping some strands of hair out of his face.

‘What’s your name,’ Marc blurted out. It didn’t sound like a question, but as a thought, lingering in his mind but not yet voiced.

‘Nathaniel.’

‘That’s… beautiful…’

Nathaniel’s cheeks colored a little, and he sank a bit deeper in the ocean, so the water reached up until his nose. After a while, he pushed his body up a little higher again.

‘So… those… other humans you’re traveling with… they’re not so nice, huh?’

Marc sighed a bit. ‘You noticed?’

Nathaniel nodded. ‘I’ve been watching the ship, just to see what humans are like… I’m… curious about them… But I didn’t like them much. They are loud and drunk and… mean. Then, I noticed you cleaning the ship, but you were a little different. So I started observing you.’

Marc breathed-

The merman had been watching him-

As he felt his cheeks burn a bit, he quickly looked the other way.

The sound of soft laughter met his ears, and he decided to look again. Nathaniel seemed amused.

‘What are you doing here, Marc? When you’re so different from them…?’

Marc pushed his hands under his chin, leaning his elbows on the railing as he sighed. ‘I’m their prisoner…’

The merman raised an eyebrow. ‘Prisoner…? What bad things have you done…?’

‘Nothing. These men… they’re pirates… Do you know what that means?’

Nathaniel shook his head, sinking a bit deeper again, until he got up. Absently, Marc wondered if he needed the water to breathe.

‘It means… they’re bad people… they rob other ships, steal treasure, carry slaves, they kill…’

Nathaniel’s eyes widened. ‘So… my father’s stories are true, after all… Then…’ he blinked. ‘Then, you’re the only one who is different?’

‘Ah, n-no, it’s not like that. There are many good people in the world.’ He smiled. ‘I’m just unlucky to have ended up here…’

‘Can’t you just leave?’

For the short moment his optimism lasted, the despair rose to his chest again, making him feel nauseous.

‘…I can’t… they’ll catch me… and kill me… I’m… going to be here until I die, probably.’ He didn’t want to look the beautiful merman in the eye while saying such sad things, so he stared at the horizon instead. The sun was rising slowly. There was no land in sight, not yet. It would take about 2 more weeks to get to the next harbour.

‘…how did they catch you in the first place…?’

Memories from months ago came back to him, like they did every night, haunting him in his sleep. They were dark, sketchy flash backs, and Marc closed his eyes, letting them wash over him.

_He had just turned 18 years old, the right age to lead his life, make his own choices. Marc had packed only a small bag full of notebooks and pens, enough to last him at least a year._

_‘I’m going, mom, dad,’ he had announced, eyes shining with anticipation._

_‘Please, sweetie, be very, very careful,’ his mom had looked so sad, so fragile, and Marc had kissed her forehead reassuringly. In the past two years, he had grown taller than her._

_‘It’ll be alright, mom! I’ll make sure to write to you every week.’_

_And so they had seen him off, and he had gone to the harbour, where the small boat he had bought was waiting for him. And he boarded it, beginning his journey to sail around the world; his search for the mystic, and to find inspiration to finish his book._

Marc opened his eyes again, and saw Nathaniel looking at him carefully, waiting.

‘I… I am a writer… So I set off to sail around the world in order to find inspiration, and finish my book… But after only a month I ran into these pirates… They stole all my money, and made me their slave…’ He felt a sad smile twitching around the corners of his lips. ‘They… even stole most of my notebooks, and they sold them for money… My stories are elsewhere now, they’re not mine anymore… There’s nothing left for me to live for…’

‘What were they about?’

‘About the ocean, the wonders hidden within them,’ he met Nathaniel’s gaze. ‘I wrote about sea creatures, mythical ones, like you…’

A small grin played with the merman’s lips. ‘Yet I am the first merman you’ve ever met.’

‘Well, yes… I wanted to meet one, but… Couldn’t fully believe they existed… And now that my stories are stolen, I found you… Ironic, huh?’

‘Why are you giving up so easily?’

Marc blinked. ‘There is no hope for me. There’s no way for me to escape.’

‘Hm,’ Nathaniel answered, and Marc didn’t know what that meant, but he didn’t ask.

‘I should get going,’ the merman then said. ‘My father is waiting for me. I will be back tomorrow,’ he smiled. ‘Stay strong, Marc.’

He wanted to say something back, but Nathaniel had already vanished before he could.

***

‘I am a bit like you, actually,’ Nathaniel said the next time they met.

‘…what do you mean?’

‘I make stories, too. Only they’re about the surface. About the people living there,’ he smiled softly. ‘And I don’t write them, I draw pictures about the people, about the life I imagine.’

‘So, we both… dream about a world different than ours…’

‘That’s right. So since I’m from the world you are interested in, and you’re from the world I dream about, I think we should tell each other stories.’

Nathaniel’s eyes had seemed even brighter than usual as he had said those words, and small sparkles seemed to be shining within them. They were like the sunbeams falling down on the ocean through puffy clouds, making the waves appear golden. Marc wished he could look at them more closely, but that was nothing but a fantasy.

‘Let’s do that,’ he said instead, blushing slightly. ‘You start… okay?’

That was the start of the exchange of stories.

And that evening, Marc had grabbed his long-forgotten notebook from under the broken mattress of his tiny old bed. It was the only one he had left, and it was still empty of words. The only reason why they hadn’t taken it.

And he started writing.

The light in his heart was back.

***

A week passed.

It was an hour before dawn, usually they would already meet up by then, to watch the sunrise together. But today, Marc wasn’t sure if he should go out to see him. Because yesterday evening had been horrible. And it was visible.

His face was beaten up, swollen from the aggression he had received, bruised from the fists he had seen flying towards him. He looked awful.

Just in time, he had fled from the scene, where he had become a punching bag of frustration, since they had lost a fight against another pirate ship, and had been forced to give up the treasure they had battled for.

It had happened a few times before, so Marc almost couldn’t feel the pain anymore. But it had been worse than usual.

If he hadn’t escaped then-

And he wondered, a tiny voice in his head did-

That if he had never met Nathaniel-

Maybe-

Just maybe-

He wouldn’t have tried to get away-

Maybe, he would’ve just lain there, waiting until death would’ve arrived to pick him up-

But he had imagined his bright ocean eyes and-

He had wanted to live.

Marc sighed. The merman had saved his life.

But he-

He looked horrible.

He-

He couldn’t see him like this…

Still, his heart ached if he imagined him waiting outside forever, possibly too long, so long that the pirates would already show up, and they would capture him, torture him alive, sell him and exhibit him and-

No.

Marc pushed himself up, and went outside.

As he had imagined, Nathaniel was already there, and a smile brightened up his face as their eyes met, but immediately, his expression darkened. And he swam closer.

‘Marc-’

He lowered his eyes, leaned against the railing, his hands trembling slightly.

He wished he was stronger-

He wished he could fight back-

Run away from this prison-

‘What happened, Marc?’ his voice was soft. ‘What have they done to you?’

He looked up, and Nathaniel’s eyes looked so sad. It didn’t suit him.

‘I’m sorry… It… happens… They… like to take out their frustrations on me,’ he laughed a bit, but it wasn’t because something was funny. It was because he felt awkward, and weak, and stupid. And he didn’t know what else to do.

‘They’re monsters… Real monsters…’ Anger, fury, fire in his expression. ‘I… want you to get away from this ship, Marc…’

‘But how? There’s just no way…! I have already accepted my fate, Nathaniel, there’s nothing I can do…’

‘Have you really…? You want to live, right? You want to travel the world, isn’t it? You want to finish your book… Even if you have to start all over again. There’s nothing you can do by yourself, but maybe I can help you…’

No-

God, no-

It was too dangerous-

He couldn’t-

‘No! You shouldn’t even be here, it’s dangerous. Do you even know what will happen to you if they find you?’

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. ‘Yeah. They put me in a glass bowl full of nasty water and exhibit me to the world, and millions of humans will come to look and point at me. Like a prison, you know. Like, the way you are now, isn’t it?’

It took some time for Marc to process, and his mind was running in circles.

Because he was right, wasn’t he?

So if Nathaniel cared about him, just as he cared about Nathaniel, then…

Then it was only natural that he wanted to help him, right…?

He didn’t want Nathaniel to be caught and imprisoned.

So… it was normal that…

Nathaniel wanted to help him escape from hís prison… right…?

So he couldn’t answer.

Instead, he looked at him, and Nathaniel smiled softly.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t act recklessly. I’ll come up with a plan. Alright?’

Marc wasn’t sure.

He much rather wanted to stay imprisoned for the rest of his life than make Nathaniel risk his own, but…

He nodded anyway.

Because he wasn’t going to make the merman change his mind anytime soon.

Hopefully later.

***

‘After I help you escape, we should create a story together, don’t you think?’ Nathaniel said, half a week later, smiling brightly.

Marc’s wounds had almost healed, his bruises almost vanished. The anger of the pirates had slowly faded away. Since soon, they would reach land.

Which meant there was gold to be stolen, booze to be drunk, people to be robbed, ways to get rich again and forget all about the losses they had suffered earlier.

‘You want to make a story… with me?’

‘Of course! You can write, and I can draw, so we can combine our best skills to create an amazing story.’

Earlier, Nathaniel had brought his drawings to the surface. Most of them were carved into stone. When Marc had told him they used paper and pencils for drawing on the land, just like the way he wrote down his stories, Nathaniel’s eyes had brightened up again.

‘Then… we could only make that true when I actually.. you know… escape. And we have a secret place where we can meet…’

Nathaniel grinned. ‘I came up with a plan.’

Oh, no-

_So soon?_

He could just reject it, right?

Because he wasn’t ready-

He couldn’t sacrifice him.

Not even if there was a chance of success.

There was too much at stake.

‘You’re setting course for the land, right? And you’ll get there in about…?’

‘Three days, I think.’

‘Perfect. Then, in two days, when the beach is close enough, you’ll jump in the ocean and I’ll help you get to the land.’

Marc blinked.

That was way too reckless.

There was no way they would succeed.

He was good at swimming, but that far…?

Besides, that would mean Nathaniel would swim all the way to the beach and that-

That was more than a little dangerous.

‘You’re worried,’ Nathaniel observed.

‘Y-yes. I mean, there’s too much risk, there!’

‘Are you underestimating me?’ the merman frowned, and within his eyes, Marc could see that he was genuinely offended.

‘Well, you have no choice, if you don’t do it, I’m going to show myself to the pirates.’

‘W-what!’

‘It’s either both of us free, or both of us imprisoned. I’ll let you make the choice.’

And with that, Nathaniel left.

He didn’t show up the next day, nor the day after.

***

The pirates were having ‘dinner’ on the deck, which basically meant they were eating everywhere and nowhere, and mostly drinking booze to flush away the nasty food they cooked. Beside the fact that they hardly gave him any food, this was also the reason why Marc had lost a lot of weight in the months he had been enslaved by them.

He was cleaning the empty plates they threw on deck, running around to make sure he got to everyone just in time before they would get irritated and decided to hurt him.

Occasionally, Marc glanced at the horizon, where the land was already clearly visible.

He was feeling a bit nauseous, because he remembered Nathaniel’s words clearly, and he-

What if he-

Was going to be reckless-

He sighed, trying not to think about it, when suddenly, he saw silky red hair and ocean eyes reach the surface of the water, and he almost dropped his plate.

Nathaniel immediately spotted him and he nodded at him, then pointed at the land that was right there, too far for a human to swim, but no problem at all for a sea creature.

He reached out his hand. As if offering it to him.

But Marc took a step back.

Because-

Because no-

He couldn’t-

They’d notice-

For sure-

They’d go after them, use their small boats, drown and kill him, and then capture Nathaniel and sell him on the black market after harassing and humiliating him.

He couldn’t-

He couldn’t let that happen-

The risk was too high-

He glanced back at Nathaniel carefully, and the merman’s expression was far from pleased. He glared at him, and then, he was gone.

Marc’s heart stopped.

_Maybe he gave up, maybe maybe maybe-_

_Please-_

But he knew the merman wasn’t like that, he knew all too well.

And he was right.

Because not even a minute later, when he was back at the place where the pirates were gathered, Nathaniel reappeared in the water, sticking his tail out, swimming carefree.

_God-_

His heart pounded against his chest painfully and he had to do something-

Had to-

Too late-

‘Oi! Wuzzat? Mermaid?’

Some pirates laughed.

‘Yeah, right, you’re drunk as a skunk, man.’

‘No, look, I’m telling you!’ the first pirate stood up, stumbled on his feet and leaned against the railing. So far, that for a  moment, Marc was afraid he would fall in the water.

‘There she is!’

The other pirates looked, and so did Marc.

Nathaniel smiled sweetly, and waved.

Marc groaned. He was terrible.

‘Fuck! It is a mermaid! Go catch it! Jackpot, man!’

‘You catch it!’

‘Jump in!’

‘Pffffft, no way man, what if it’s a siren, it’ll drown and eat me.’

More laughter.

‘Okay, seriously though, catch it. It’s worth money.’

Marc breathed.

And took a step forward.

‘I’ll catch it.’

Silence. And about twenty pairs of eyes staring at him. They were burning holes in him. But they couldn’t hurt him. He was going to escape. He had to trust Nathaniel.

So he took some more steps forward, his head held high.

Then, laughter.

‘Whew, you finally ready to die, shrimp?’

‘Giving up your life?’

‘That’s a wise choice for once, mate.’

More laughter.

The captain came walking towards him, however, until he was only inches away from him.

Marc had to move his chin up to be able to look him in the eye.

‘You’re going to jump in there by yourself and catch it, and we’ll pull you up once you have it. If you fail, well,’ the captain smirked. ‘Then you’re for the sharks.’

Laughter.

Marc’s head was spinning.

_Trust him._

‘Regretting your big mouth already? Too bad, you don’t have a choice anymore. Jump in there. Now.’

Marc breathed.

Around him, they began chanting.

‘Jump, jump, jump, jump.’

They were stamping their feet on the ground in time with their yelling, and anxiousness grabbed him by the throat, making it hard to breath. But he walked. One foot in front of the other, staring right in front of him instead of at the faces judging and watching him.

The ocean seemed so, so far away.

But at last-

He was there.

He tried not to look down as he climbed over the railing.

Tried not to listen to the yelling behind him.

The only thing he thought of were Nathaniel’s ocean blue eyes.

_Trust him._

And he would.

He jumped.

The sensation was a strange one; it felt as if he was falling forever, but then suddenly, he reached the water, way too soon, and he quickly closed his eyes as the cold water embraced him.

And then, two soft arms.

He looked up, and stared right into those beautiful eyes.

Nathaniel smiled at him and Marc’s eyes widened.

He couldn’t stop staring.

He was right-

Right in front of him-

Only inches apart-

Up close, his eyes were even more enchanting-

Nathaniel leaned closer and whispered in his ear. ‘Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Trust me.’

Marc was unsure what he meant, but he trusted him. So he followed his instructions.

The arms wrapped around him tightened and before he could register what happened, they were underwater. Moving downwards at an inhuman speed.

_What-_

_What was happening-_

_Was he-_

_Did he-_

_Betray… him?_

_Was he going to die?_

_Were sirens real after all?_

_Had he-_

_Fallen prey-_

_Ah-_

_Lightheaded-_

_Little stars on his vision-_

_No sound-_

_Just blue, ocean blue eyes-_

_The only thing that mattered-_

_And then-_

_Two hands on his cheeks-_

S _oft lips on his-_

And the air was back.

The stars were gone.

He carefully opened his eyes.

And coughed.

Some water exited his mouth and he blinked, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

The surface under his hands was warm, and a little rough. He looked down, and he seemed to be lying on some rocks. In front of him, the sun was setting in the ocean. It was a beautiful red, and orange, yellow, and purple, some hints of blue.

_Enchanting._

Wait-

Where-

He quickly searched, but the merman seemed to be nowhere.

What… happened…?

Flashes came back to him, Nathaniel showing himself to the pirates, him offering to catch him, walking to the edge of the ship, and then- then-

He’d jumped down and-

Nathaniel had pushed him underwater.

But now…

He was on the surface.

When he turned around, he could see a village in the distance, belonging to the land that they were setting course to earlier.

The merman had brought him here.

He had saved him after all.

He…

He was free…

‘Looking for me?’

Marc almost lost his balance, and quickly turned his head in the direction of the voice.

There he was.

Looking at him, a small smile around his lips, as he was leaning with his arms on some lower rocks, letting his tail move in and out of the water.

‘N-Nathaniel…’

‘Marc.’

His eyes sparkled, and Marc-

He needed to get closer.

Now that he finally, finally could.

He wanted to take a closer look at him.

So he moved down a little, until he was kneeled down on the rock the merman was leaning on.

‘You… you saved me…’

‘I told you to trust me, and you did.’

‘T-thank you…’

Nathaniel shook his head. ‘You needed to be free. Besides, I want to create a story with you. You can’t do that when your imprisoned on that terrible ship.’

‘Did you… try to make it look like you killed me…?’

He nodded. ‘It was the easiest way to get rid of them immediately. It only means you need to lay low for a few days, until they have set sail again. So they don’t spot you.’

‘I… don’t know how to thank you…’

His smile widened. ‘Like I said, create a story with me. Although…’

‘Although?’

There was a slight hint of a blush on his cheeks, and Marc was mesmerized. ‘Although a kiss would be nice, too, I guess…’

‘A k-kiss?’

His mind was spinning.

How could-

Someone as beautiful-

Enchanting-

As him-

Want to-

‘Unless you don’t want to, of course.’

For the first time ever, Marc stopped thinking, and just a _cted._

He leaned in, cupping Nathaniel’s cheek with his hand, caressing softly.

And kissed him.

***

Months passed, during which Marc saw his merman almost every day. He had almost finished his story, and Nathaniel had been drawing many scenes to accompany them.

But Marc-

He wanted to go home.

He had written his parents immediately, and they had been delighted to finally hear from him. But after these adventures, he needed to see them. Take a break. Rest.

Only he didn’t want to leave Nathaniel. His heart ached just thinking about it.

He was sitting on the beach, thinking about his choices, watching the sunset with a sigh.

Then, in the distance, he saw a figure slowly walking up to him.

He frowned, squinting his eyes until he saw the person almost trip.

Immediately, he jumped up and ran to support them.

On the way, his heart skipped several beats, but only when he was by his side, preventing him from falling by putting his arms around him, he fully noticed.

‘N-Nathaniel…’ he breathed. ‘What-’

Nathaniel looked up at him, his _legs_ trembling slightly, and he grinned.

‘Hey there, Marc.’

‘What did you do-’

‘I abandoned my tail.’

‘I can _see_ that, but-’

‘I know you want to go home. And like that, with that… tail… I can’t go with you. Like this, I can… And besides…’ He scratched his head a bit. ‘I’ve… always wanted to live on the surface, anyways… And now I can become a proper illustrator, too… I couldn’t see any bad consequences, Marc.’ He smiled softly. ‘So I’m coming with you. On the condition that you properly introduce me to your parents as your boyfriend. And take me to see the world, after you’ve rested. Oh, and teach me walking, please, this is kind of hard…’

Marc just hugged him tightly, and some tears fell down.

But it didn’t matter, since they were tears of happiness.

 

 

 


	22. Day 22: Rainbow

It was grey outside, and the November rain was cold against his cheeks, so Nathaniel buried his face deeper underneath his scarf. Autumn automatically made him less motivated to go outside to face another school day, but today’s weather made it even worse.  

He sighed, trying to walk as fast as he could, until finally, the school building loomed in front of him.

Inside, the warmth hit him in the face and he frowned. They exaggerated a bit with the temperature. That would only make it worse when you were forced to go outside again.

He hurried to the art room, he was already quite late, and his final product before graduating was still a disaster.

He was drawing a comic book about a fictional superhero called Ladybug, but since about a week, he had hit writersblock and was unable to come up with the brilliant plot lines that were so apparent in the earlier chapters. He didn’t understand.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been so headstrong about doing the project on his own; he was an artist after all, not a writer. And he could really need an actual one right now to help him.

But it was too late to sulk about his mistakes- he had to finish it.

So he grabbed a pencil and started.

An hour or two later, he groaned, putting it down.

It was garbage, absolutely bad.

‘Hey, what’s up, Nate?’ Alix leaned over his shoulder to look. ‘Oh, man, you know that line is super cheesy and cliché, right?’ She looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed, more worried than upset.

‘I know! That’s the problem…’ he sighed, shoving the page away violently. ‘I can’t write!’

‘But the previous chapters were just fine!’

‘I… I know… I have no clue what happened… Ugh.’

‘Writersblock, I guess? Maybe you need a break, wanna take a small walk, get some coffee?’

Alix’s invitation sounded tempting, but-

‘I really don’t have time for that…’

The girl punched his shoulder. ‘Aw, come on, if you’re going to write shit like that, you’re more productive taking a break.’ She grinned and Nathaniel couldn’t suppress a small smile.

He loved how direct his best friend was. Sometimes, he didn’t know what he’d do without her. She was always there to help him keep his head cool and pushing him on the right path.

‘Alright, then…’

So he got up, grabbing some necessities and leaving the rest of his belonging in the art room, following Alix outside.

As he walked the school corridors, he felt the familiar sensation of someone watching him. Another strange thing that had been happening to him lately. A few times, he swore he had seen some figure quickly moving away when he looked back. He remembered a red hoodie, pushed over the head, and a pair of deep, green eyes. Every time he saw the shape, those were the two things he could remember.

He tried shaking the feeling away, but as always, an uncomfortable gut feeling lingered.

Outside, the rain was still falling, but the clouds seemed a little less angry than in the morning. They were a softer, light-grey instead of almost as dark as black.

But still, the cold enveloped them and Nathaniel shivered a little.

‘It’s a good thing that take-away coffee spot is so close, right?’ Alix said.

‘Definitely… It’s been crazy cold this week.’

‘Yeah, today is the worst, though. Do you think that’s what’s effecting you…?’ She eyed him carefully, and Nathaniel shrugged, because he honestly did not know.

‘Maybe… I don’t know… The strange thing is… I can’t remember working on my art project, like, longer than a week ago. Everything is blurry.’

‘Well, you’ve been working too hard,’ his best friend grinned.

Nathaniel wasn’t so sure, because his memory had always been quite good, and the events that happened longer than a week ago… there just seemed to be a big hazy hole in them.

‘You should really find a writer to partner up with, you know,’ Alix then said. ‘It’s a weak point of yours. Find someone who can help you!’

There it was again. The strange gut feeling. That something was terribly, terribly wrong. But Nathaniel didn’t know. He didn’t remember. His heart felt… so empty.

‘Yeah, that’s a good idea, I should do that,’ he forced a smile, because he knew Alix meant well. She always did.

His friend grinned back and entered the café first, walking to the bar to order. Nathaniel was about to follow her but-

Shivers ran down his spine and he quickly turned his head around, only to see a figure wearing a red hoodie disappear behind a building.

_Am I… going crazy…?_

‘Something wrong, Nate?’

He looked up, and Alix was staring at him from a distance, her eyes worried.

He shook his head, and entered the café.

They ordered the usual, and warmed their hands against the paper cups as they walked back.

‘Hey, Nate, look over there!’

Nathaniel followed Alix’s reached out finger with his gaze and there-

A rainbow-

The sun had broken through the grey clouds, but persistent as the November rain was, the drops hadn’t ceased yet.

And during the fight between light and water, they had created the most beautiful rainbow Nathaniel had ever seen.

_A-_

_A rain-_

_Rainbow-_

He couldn’t see anymore.

His vision completely white.

And then-

Flashes-

A red hoodie-

A _rainbow_ V-neck shirt-

Deep, green eyes-

Cast downwards slightly whenever shy-

Lighting up whenever doing something he loved-

Working together-

Drawing, writing-

The perfect art, the perfect comic-

He-

Pink blushes on his cheeks-

Soft lips-

On his-

Nathaniel gasped.

The cup of coffee had slipped through his fingers, creating a dark warm puddle just in front of his feet.

_Marc_

_Oh, god, Marc._

‘Nate…? What… Are you… alright?’ Alix moved her hand, almost on his shoulder, but he was already gone, running back to wherever he thought he’d remember seeing that figure wearing the red hoodie.

_What the hell-_

_What the hell happened?!_

A thousand of thoughts swam through the ocean of his mind, but the only clear ones he could grasp were screaming at him to _find him_.

Now-

Because nothing else mattered more than that.

He didn’t notice running so fast until he stopped and his throat burned, and he felt warm tears roll down his cheeks.

He breathed-

‘MARC! WHERE ARE YOU!?’

It didn’t take even a second.

‘Here.’

Nathaniel turned around and there-

There he was-

He looked so small, so fragile, so lost-

Nathaniel didn’t remember moving, but suddenly he was in front of him, wrapping his arms around him and pulling his body against his tightly.

And he cried.

***

A few hours later, Ladybug and Cat Noir had successfully defeated the “Eraser”, an akuma that had been active for at least a weak, stealing memories from the whole world  about specific people, including the two superheroes, and Marc.

Luckily, the human counterparts of Ladybug and Cat Noir had still protected their miraculouses, out of pure instinct, even if they didn’t remember being superheroes.

Still, it had been Hawk Moth’s most dangerous akuma so far.

So Ladybug went to personally thank Nathaniel.

Apparently, by remembering Marc, he had broken the entire spell of the Eraser.

Later, Marc asked him how Nathaniel had remembered.

Nathaniel squeezed his hand a little, while scratching his head awkwardly with the other. Then he stared at the horizon, and nodded.

‘Well, you can see it right there…’

Marc looked.

An enchanting rainbow was coloring the sky, even more beautiful than the one that had helped Nathaniel remember.

Or maybe that was just because his most important person was right beside him as he watched.


	23. Day 23: Beach

The sun was setting slowly in the ocean, coloring the entire sky red, orange, purple and a golden yellow. It caused a thousand silver sparkles glittering on the darkest blue water. There were almost no waves; the sea gentle and soft. Everything around them was quiet, the only sound was the soft rustling of the water against the rocks they were sitting on.

Their shoulders were touching lightly, their fingers intertwined as they just watched in silence.

It felt almost unreal to Marc how quick time had passed. This was their last summer as high school students, they were already moving towards their road of adulthood. Months ago, they had agreed to go to the beach together during this time, and it still seemed like a dream.

They had arrived early in the afternoon, walked around, searched for seashells, went into the ocean a bit, and then just watched the waves, Nathaniel sketching, Marc writing, side by side. They had dinner at a nearby food court, where they both had tried the spiciest curry and ended up ordering five mango juices each to be able to bear it. It had been worth it, though, it was the tastiest curry Marc had ever had.

After dinner, they went back here, just strolling around the seashore, until the sun started setting and they had found this perfect spot.

Marc let his head slowly fall against Nathaniel’s shoulder as he stared at the beautiful scene. In reply, his boyfriend squeezed his hand a little and Marc had never felt so safe and perfect.

Still, there was a bitter aftertaste in his sweet bliss. Which was the exact reason why they went on this vacation together. Soon, when summer ended, and their first college year started, their ways would part.

Marc unconsciously shuffled a little closer, pressing against Nathaniel, closing his eyes for a bit until he looked back up, just in time to see the sun disappear in the horizon.

There was a knot in his chest, stopping his thoughts from turning into words, obstructing his breathing, and he felt nauseous.

Of course, they wouldn’t stop seeing each other, and they both stayed in Paris although attending different schools, but…

What if…

What if Nathaniel found someone much more amazing than him?

He was sure he would.

And Nathaniel was attending an art school. With his amazing talent, cute looks and slightly shy appearance, Marc was sure.

Sure that there would be students interested in him.

He trusted his boyfriend, of course he did.

But his anxiety was eating him away, whispering him in the ear that actually, Nathaniel needed someone much better than him.

What if their contact would dilute, from meeting once a weak, to meeting once every two weeks, every month, every two months, turning into nothing…

The knot tightened, and the sun was gone. Marc lowered his gaze, suddenly feeling cold.

He felt Nathaniel’s body move a little against his, and there was a hand cupping his face, and then a finger moving on his chin, making him look up.

Marc obeyed, the knot moving up, towards his throat. His gaze met Nathaniel’s bright ocean eyes, and there was worry buried within them.

‘What’s wrong…?’

He tried opening his mouth, but the idea of speaking felt terrible and he closed his eyes for a second, shaking his head.

‘It’s… just my stupid mind…’ he said, the words felt foreign to him.

‘If it lets you make a sad face like that, it’s not just “something stupid”,’ Nathaniel said softly.

He moved his hands to his cheek again, softly caressing, and the touch made Marc want to cry a little.

‘I’m just scared we’ll grow apart… That this is the last summer… I’ll spend with you…’

At first, Marc was afraid to see Nathaniel’s reaction, so he casted his eyes downwards, but when his boyfriend didn’t reply immediately, he looked up again, carefully.

His eyebrows were furrowed, his expression a strange mix of sadness, confusion and worry.

‘But why would that happen…?’

‘Because… you’re more amazing than you think you are, Nath…’ Marc said, and it made his lips twitch a little into a small smile. Because he was. Nathaniel was amazing.

‘And I’m not the only one who thinks that, so…’

‘Well, you are more amazing than you think as well, Marc,’ he shot back, his expression growing a little more tense, and Marc blinked.

‘Don’t underestimate my feelings for you… please…’ The first part sounded angry, when the last word was a plea, a quiet, one, and Nathaniel looked so fragile as he spoke it.

And it was at that moment, that Marc realized he was worrying about absolutely nothing at all, and that he might even be hurting his boyfriend while saying stuff like this.

He opened his lips to apologize, but Nathaniel spoke first, his eyes soft again, a small smile on his lips. ‘Just trust me, and I’ll trust you, alright? We’ll always be together. We… we belong… like this.’ There was a slight hint of a blush on his cheeks as he nodded at their hands, still holding onto each other dearly.

The knot was gone, and his heart fluttered.

‘I know,’ he whispered. ‘I’m sorry, Nath… I… love you… And I always will…’

Nathaniel smiled, and his ocean eyes lighted up, just like the glitters of light that had colored the waves earlier. He leaned his forehead against Marc’s.

His heart was soaring.

‘And I love you, Marc…’

He moved his hand on his cheek, leaning closer, until Marc could feel his breath against his lips. He shut his eyes, closing the distance himself as they kissed under the night sky, the ocean waves softly rustling against the rocks.

And Marc knew.

That indeed, they would always be together.

 


	24. Day 24: Stargazing

It was nearly 10PM. Marc stared outside his window, the stars already clearly visible as they sparkled in the dark. There were clear skies, and according to the news messages, the meteor shower would start in about half an hour, reaching its peak at 11. He’d always wanted to see one, and this was the perfect opportunity. However… there was one thing constantly bugging him, eating his excitement bit by bit.

Flashes of ocean eyes, with those tiny glitters that made him think of the thousands of stars out there tonight.

They had lit up once he’d mentioned the meteor shower of tonight. Mesmerized, he had stared at them for a while, and then, he had changed the subject of conversation.

An opportunity, gone. An excuse to spend an evening together with Nathaniel, gone. A stargazing partner, gone. He sighed, the disappointment teasing his body.  

It had been so easy to just ask him-

He could easily see Nathaniel was interested in the meteor shower as well, but…

Once again, his mind had been putting a thousand ideas in his mind, which had refrained him from doing it.

_He probably thinks stargazing is a waste of time._

_He’s not interested for real._

_He’d take it the wrong way._

_He’d hate you for it._

_He’d never spend any time with you ever again._

_Because he’d think is disgusting_

Marc knew now, that they were all full of nonsense, but the problem was that they _had_ stopped him.

And right now, asking him _would_ be weird.

It would be way too late.

It was okay-

No problem-

It was not as if it was the last chance on earth to spend time with Nathaniel.

There was always a next time.

Marc pushed his curtains a bit more open, staring outside for a bit, but it hadn’t started yet.

This was alright. He would just watch it by himself, here from his window. The view wasn’t so bad.

Watching shooting stars under the night sky on top of one of the hills overlooking Paris, with the one person he secretly loved – with Nathaniel – by his side…

It would just be a dream for now. Nothing wrong with that.

Marc pulled his chair a little closer, and then, suddenly, in the distance, he saw a tiny streak of light trail downwards, and as he felt his heart thumb against his chest loudly. He pushed himself against the window.

It had started!

_You know, it will take a loooong time before a meteor shower like this appears, and it’s up to luck whether the skies will then be as clear as today._

_This might be your last chance in a while-_

_Maybe even the last-_

Marc didn’t remember getting out his phone or dialling a number, and by the time the phone was resting against his ear, it was too late.

‘Marc…?’

‘Yeah, uhm, Nathaniel, hi, I, uhm- Do you- Are you watching- uhm…’

‘The stars? Yeah.’

‘W-where?’

‘Just my window. What about you?’

‘Me, too. But uhm, you know, I, er, was thinking it would be nice to- My backyard- Lie down and- erm. Want to come over quick? If you still can?’

It was silent for a bit, and Marc’s hands were trembling, his face red even though Nathaniel wasn’t even there. He was tripping over his words so much Nathaniel would totally find him weird and decline and-

‘I mean sorry I ask so late and it would be better from one of the hills in Paris and I wanted to go there but I- I d-didn’t ask you and-’

‘I’m already on my way! Give me ten minutes!’ Nathaniel hung up.

Leaving Marc speechless, with a shaky body and a head flooded with thoughts.

_What just happened-_

_He wanted to come-_

_He said something about the backyard-_

_Lying down-_

_Meteor shower-_

_Already started-_

_Nathaniel was coming over-_

_Ten minutes._

And then it hit him, so he jumped up, slamming his door open to get two sleeping bags from the closet on the first floor.

Eight minutes and some weird looks of his parents later, he was in the backyard, having put the sleeping bags on the grass, he sat on top of it, watching as various shooting stars were traveling downwards. Absently, he wondered if any of them would ever hit the earth. And what would happen if it would.

He felt small, a trivial being in such a wonderful world.

Then, the door to the yard slammed open and Marc turned around.

There he was. His cheeks a little red of hurrying, he was panting. His scarf sloppily draped around his shoulders, and his coat buttoned up askew. His hair just a bit more messy than usual.

He was the most beautiful thing Marc had ever seen, and a smile teased around his lips as he moved a little bit, patting on the empty spot beside him.

‘They’re still falling…!’

Nathaniel smiled back and quickly sat down next to him, letting himself fall on his back.

‘Ah, so tired.’

His eyes were lighting up, however, and they widened as he stared at the sky above him. Marc found ocean blue still a bit prettier than midnight blue.

Then, Nathaniel tugged at his sleeve. ‘Lie down, it’s prettier like this!’

And Marc did, shuffling closer to Nathaniel, leaving a little bit of space between them.

Nathaniel closed it, moving until their shoulders touched.

Marc could feel his cheeks heat up, but he looked up, and his artist friend was so, so right-

They had been just in time for the peak, with a dozen of light trails adorning the night sky. Everything around them was quiet as they watched, and the trails travelled downwards, some far, some just a little bit, disappearing as others emerged. The stars around them were shining brightly as well, no cloud in sight.

‘Hey, Marc…?’

‘Hm?’

‘You know that you can wish upon a shooting star, right?’

Marc nodded, then realized Nathaniel was looking at the meteor shower just like him, so he would be unable to see that. ‘Yes…?’

‘Did you wish anything?’

‘Not yet… But I will. You?’

‘I already made my wish when I was watching at home.’

‘Oh.’ Marc’s heart sank a little.

He heard Nathaniel move a little and he turned his head, seeing the other boy look at him. ‘Do you think I can have another one since the first one already came true?’ He grinned a bit sheepishly and it was cute-

Marc smiled. ‘I don’t know. You can always try. What did you wish for?’

‘That you’d call me.’ Nathaniel turned his head back to stare at the sky.

_Did he-_

Marc blinked.

‘So yeah, it came true right after I wished it. So I’m not sure if the stars have anything to do with it.’

‘They probably have, since I called you right after seeing the first one fall,’ Marc answered softly, turning his head back as well, his cheeks burning.

The amount was lowering now, only five trails left in the sky, shining radiantly.

‘Hm, if it works so well I might just make another wish, then. You make one, as well.’

‘I…’ _Already have what I wish for right now, next to me…_

_I… I wish…_

_I wish you’ll always be… right here… Like this… By my side…_

‘Did you make one?’

‘Yes,’ Marc whispered, staring as the last three trails travelled far, falling and falling.

‘Me, too.’

‘What for?’

‘I’ll tell you when it comes true.’

‘Me, too…’

Fingers wrapped around his own, and Marc jumped a little, but then relaxed as Nathaniel rubbed his thumb softly over the back of his hand.

For the first time ever, he felt like maybe, just maybe, the wish he had just made had a chance of coming true.

Only two shooting stars remained, shimmering brighter than any of those they’d already seen. They fell for a long time, and Marc followed them with his eyes, until finally, they disappeared, both at the exact same time.  


	25. Day 25: Movie night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of a "sequel" to "Day 1", so it might be nice to re-read that one first! But it's not necessary. :)

About a month after the movie date, the day of their planned movie night finally came.

Marc was in front of Nathaniel’s house, his finger hovering over the doorbell, only inches away from it. He was pretty sure he was at the right place, since the nameplate displayed Nathaniel’s family name, plus he had already double-double-checked the address number. So the fear of being in the wrong place couldn’t be the cause of his loudly beating heart and trembling hands.

Then… What if one of his parents would answer the door…? What if he said something weird or made a bad impression or even worse- what if he froze, unable to say anything at all?

Ah… He should’ve offered using his house for the appointment, but… Nathaniel had beaten him to it.

Besides… he couldn’t deny being interested in the artist boy’s room, his family, his living room, the places where he always spent his days…

Marc sighed, trying to push the uneasy feelings back from his chest all the way to the bottom, to the tip of his toes, so he wouldn’t notice them anymore. It worked a little bit. At least enough to make him press the doorbell.

He jumped a little at the sound and took a few steps back, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. The door opened, and Marc looked into a pair of ocean eyes.

Nathaniel smiled. ‘Hey, come in! Did you eat? You’re staying over, right? I have so many movies we have to watch.’

He opened the door a bit more, holding it open for him.

Marc’s heart soared and he stepped inside, his cheeks warm but he didn’t care, because Nathaniel seemed as excited for this evening as him.

‘I… didn’t have dinner, yet… And I brought my pyjamas and toothbrush, as you asked me.’

‘Good! Ah, my parents are eating out for one of their friend’s birthday, so they gave me money to order pizza, if that’s okay with you,’ Nathaniel said, closing the door behind him.

They were in a pretty small corridor, next to the door was a coat rack, and a bit further a big mirror. The corridor ended in a door that was left open, which probably leaded to the living room and kitchen. To the rights were stairs  leading to the next floor.

‘I have a TV in my room. It’s small, but it’ll be more comfortable to sit there, I think.’

Marc nodded, taking off his coat. Nathaniel took it from him, putting it away.

‘Your parents… don’t mind me coming over when they didn’t meet me yet…?’

‘It’s fine, I told them about you,’ Nathaniel scratched his head a bit, smiling softly. ‘They’ll get back late, so they might come in later, or I’ll introduce you in the morning, if that’s okay.’

‘S-sure.’

‘Come on! We should start the first movie!’ Nathaniel grinned, his eyes lighting up slightly, and Marc found it hard to look away from them. So he kept his gaze on them, smiling back.

‘Alright.’

Nathaniel lead him upstairs and the nervous fluttering in his chest returned as Marc realized that he was going to see his room soon-

He didn’t have much time to prepare, because Nathaniel opened another door and Marc stepped inside.

‘It’s not much, but it’s comfortable,’ Nathaniel said.

It was actually a lot like Marc had imagined. The room was not too big, besides the usual bed, closets and a small cabinet with a TV on top of it, there were multiple posters of superheroes, some Marvel characters, a few DC and of course a big one of Ladybug and Cat Noir. To the side, there was a desk with a drawing tablet on top, and some other drawing supplies in the back. Next to the desk, a large easel proudly stood, an empty canvas resting on it. A big A3-sized map was on the ground messily, it probably contained some bigger drawings. There were a few windows in the room, the view showing the streets of Paris. It made the room appear more lively and spacious. Next to the bed, a mattress was already prepared for him, and the bed was covered with pillows and a fleece blanket. Several DVD’s were spread out on top of the bed. Nathaniel had probably quickly taken them out.

‘It’s nice,’ Marc said, a small smile teasing his lips.

‘Thanks,’ Nathaniel answered as he walked towards the bed to grab some of the DVD’s, making a tidy stack of them. ‘So, I’ll order some pizza’s and you choose the first movie, sounds good?’ he smiled, sitting down on the bed, patting the spot next to him.

Marc carefully walked up to him, sitting down. He felt weird, but not in a bad way. He took the pile of movies and nodded. ‘Sounds good.’

Not much time later, they sat next to each other, leaning against the wall using a few pillows, watching the first Pacific Rim movie with a pizza between them.

During the sequel, Marc shivered and Nathaniel dropped the fleece blanket on top of them, smiling. ‘Better?’

Marc nodded, turning his attention back to the movie. He hadn’t seen the series before, and was enjoying it a lot.

Two movies later, Nathaniel returned from downstairs with a bowl of popcorn, and as he sat down again on the bed, he suddenly moved closer to him, their shoulders touching as he put the fleece blanket back.

It was warm, and extremely comfortable, but Marc’s heart was pounding so fast that the was afraid Nathaniel might feel, or even _hear_ it.

If he did, his friend didn’t comment on it, but instead looked at him, smiling a bit, and Marc wondered where the red on his cheeks came from.

‘Do you mind…? This is warmer…’

‘N-no, I don’t…’

Especially not during the horror movie they had put on; he cuddled even closer against Nathaniel, and only noticed it when the credits rolled, his cheeks turning a bright red as he quickly put some distance between them.

Nathaniel chuckled a bit. ‘Let’s watch a less scary one now, in case we won’t be able to sleep.’

Marc thought that was a good idea.

They both fell asleep during that one, not having even finished half of the movies they had planned. So they agreed upon making Fridays a fixed day for movie nights. Each time, Marc got a little more comfortable leaning against him warmly as they watched, and he secretly hoped the cold winter evenings would never end.  


	26. Day 26: Painting

Outside, the sun was shining, winter slowly turning into spring. It was still pretty cold, and Nathaniel didn’t go outside without his scarf yet, but the temperature was getting better little by little.   
The rays of sunshine felt warm as they went through the windows however, making him drowsy as they shone down on his face. His head resting in his hand as he leaned his elbow against the table to his right, he stared at the empty canvas in front of him.

Art class usually got him excited, but he didn’t have much inspiration today. To be honest, he just wanted to meet up with Marc to continue their comic. Since the Reverser incident happened and they had started working together two weeks ago, Nathaniel had been looking forward to their meetings every day. Honestly, Marc was definitely what he had missed all this time. He came up with the ideas and concepts he would never think of. And in turn, he was able to turn Marc’s thoughts into pictures, something the other boy wasn’t able to.

It was as Marinette had said, they were a perfect match. To work together in a comic project, that was, of course.

It didn’t have anything to do with the big, bright apple green eyes of the other boy, or the way his cheeks colored pink oh so easily whenever he was embarrassed, or how much his face lit up whenever he smiled. And of course it wasn’t connected to the way Nathaniel’s heart seemed to beat just a tiny bit faster whenever one of those smiles was directed at him…

Nah, they were a perfect team.

Yes.

That was it.

It was not as if Nathaniel was looking forward to seeing him just because they couldn’t during class, and because his presence was warm and felt familiar even though they only met a few weeks ago.

It was just because they worked together well.

Not because he often thought about those eyes every single moment of the day, and they were way better in real life than in his thoughts no-

Just because he enjoyed making their comic together.

Not because he might have just gotten over his crush on Ladybug.

Okay, maybe he had.

A little.

But that was not because of a certain writer boy he had just met…

…right?

Nathaniel chewed on his cheek unconsciously, and then he noticed he had started on his free painting exercise. While lost in thought.

He took his pencil from the canvas and-

_Oh shit-_

Quickly, he jumped up, covering the painting by flailing his hands in front of it, his heartbeat pounding so loud he could almost feel it in the back of his throat.

His eyes flashed from left to right, but no-one seemed to have noticed his painting yet-

And thank god Marc was not in his class-

‘Hey, Nath, what’re you drawing?’

Nathaniel jumped at the voice, turning around as he looked right in Alix’s eyes.

‘Errrrr, hi Alix,’ he said, moving back a little to block his painting.

Oh man, why hadn’t he thrown it away yet? Made such a big mess of it so people wouldn’t be able to see?

Because they would see-

Easily-

There was no doubt who had been on his mind while painting that canvas-

_It looked kinda good…_

It did. But god, no, no-one could see this.

‘So?’ Alix asked. She was moving from right to left a bit, trying to see behind him, but Nathaniel moved in sync with her, blocking her view at all costs. ‘I don’t have any inspiration at all, so I wanted to see yours!’

‘Ah, I er, don’t have any inspiration either, so uh, there’s nothing there.’

Alix raised her eyebrows. ‘Then why are you blocking me?’

‘I’m not!’

‘Really, move aside then!’ She suddenly gave him a small push.

Caught off guard, Nathaniel moved to the side a bit, and then his heartbeat got even louder as the tingling of uneasiness in his limbs intensified.

_Oh no-_

First, Alix blinked. Then she was gaping. Then she frowned. And eventually, a big grin started forming around her lips and Nathaniel groaned.

This was bad, very, very bad.

‘Oh my god, Nathaniel-’

‘No.’

‘Oh god, is this-’

‘It’s _not_ what you _think_ ,’ he snapped, pushing her aside and reaching out his hand to mess up the painting, but Alix grabbed his arm before he could do so.

‘Don’t! It’s so beautiful!’

He sighed, moving so he was in front of the painting again, covering it for the rest of the people out there. Alarmed, he let his eyes go over the room, but nobody seemed to have noticed the uproar.

His cheeks burning, he looked back at Alix.

Who was still grinning. ‘Oh damn, Nath, I didn’t know you-’

‘I _don’t_ ,’ he said. ‘Like I said, it’s _not_ like that.’

She snorted. ‘Yeah, right. And you expect me to believe that with that extremely detailed painting.’

‘Shut up.’

‘Seriously, this is great Nath, now you finally moved on from your unrequited hopeless crush on Ladybug to an actual approachable object of affection.’

‘ _Hey!’_ he frowned, a little offended, then he focused his attention back on the important part. ‘Wait, I mean, _no!_ I do not-’

‘Not what?’ Alix challenged, tilting her head a little, her hands resting against the sides of her waist.

Nathaniel breathed. _Have a crush on Marc. Like him. Like him like a whole huge lot. Dream about his green eyes every day. Want to see him more often. Ask him out on a date and-_

‘Well?’ Alix asked.

He couldn’t say it. So he sat down instead, sighing, His face still felt hot.

Alix chuckled. ‘Hm, looks like someone is moving on from his denial phase.’

‘Shut up,’ he said softly.

‘Hey, don’t worry, my lips are sealed,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Just. Don’t throw away the painting, alright? It’s pretty. It should be dry by now so quickly put it away if you don’t want anyone to see it.’

She smiled, and Nathaniel relaxed, curling his lips up softly.

‘Okay…’

That, he did. No one else besides Alix saw the painting that day. And Nathaniel, he had a little bit more trouble focusing on their comic when he met up with Marc later that day.


	27. Day 27: Anonymous love letters

The first time he received one, it was on Valentine’s Day. Which was maybe not so weird if you looked at it from a general point of view. But for Nathaniel, it was. Because he had never ever received a Valentine’s letter in his life. And he was not the type to. He was not attractive. He was not popular. Girls didn’t like him. Boys didn’t like him either, probably. At least, not in that way. And Nathaniel hadn’t really minded. But then, when he opened his locker on Valentine’s Day, and a red envelope fell out of it, he’d blinked a few times, thinking that maybe, someone had put it in the wrong place. When he picked it up, however, his name was on it.

His eyes had widened, and he had taken the envelope home, before anyone could made fun of him.

Inside, there was the sweetest message Nathaniel had ever seen, and his heart soared.

_Dear Nathaniel,_

_Every day, I get lost in your ocean eyes._

_And I feel lucky every time I am able to see your smile._

_The way it makes your eyes glitter in the dark._

_It causes my heart to flutter._

_I love watching you draw, because it makes you carefree and soft._

_Lost in your world of thoughts and dreams._

_I love the way it’s hard to pull you out of there._

_And the way you blush when you realize your absence._

_I love how quickly you can move from shyness to determination._

_Like the waves of the ocean._

_I hope to continue being able to see those ocean eyes._

_And discover more about them as I stay by your side._

_With love,_

_X._

Upon seeing the letter signed with a simple ‘X’, his heart dropped, and he put the envelope away. Because he was pretty sure someone was just teasing him. This couldn’t be a serious letter. Yet something within him stopped him from throwing it away. Instead, he hid it. And tried to forget.

***

For a while, he did.

Until he got another letter, about a month later. Again in his locker, when he was about to go home.

_Dear Nathaniel,_

_Do you remember the letter your received on Valentine’s Day?_

_It took me a lot of courage to send it. And I thought it would be enough._

_But something inside me, tells me it isn’t._

_I am sorry for not telling you who I am._

_Because of this, you might think of the letter as a prank._

_But it isn’t. I mean every word I’ve written to you._

_And I have more._

_Because I am unable to forget about your ocean eyes._

_Unable to think of anything but the tiny lights within them._

_Sometimes, they’re dimmed._

_Sometimes they’re lit._

_And I find myself, always waiting._

_For that one moment they will appear._

_Like glitters on the ocean when the sun is shining._

_The rays of sunlight touching the water._

_Warming it up, making it shimmer in glee._

_I want to be able to be your sun._

_Will you let me?_

_With love,_

_X._

This time, Nathaniel hadn’t been able to wait until he got home, and he was blushing brightly as he quickly put the envelope away. Lost in thoughts, he closed his locker and walked away, right into Marc as they bumped into each other.

‘A-h, sorry!’ Nathaniel quickly called, blinking, his face still red.

Marc smiled softly. ‘Don’t worry.’ He moved a little closer, a concerned look in his eyes. ‘Are you alright, Nathaniel?’

‘Y-yeah, perfect! I just, uh- nothing. Let’s go work on the comic!’

He didn’t notice Marc’s trembling hands as they walked off together, because he hid them well.

***  
The third time, Nathaniel noticed his heart jumped a little in excitement as he saw a familiar red envelope sticking out of his locker. But he put it in his bag, taking it home, wanting to avoid a situation like earlier with Marc. He didn’t notice the writer boy was looking at him from a distance, chewing on his lip.

***

He received more.

A fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh.

Each and every a bit more personal, a bit less abstract. They were stating specific details, and it made Nathaniel wonder who could’ve written them. It had to be someone close to him, but he couldn’t think of anyone at all.

He stopped thinking and just waited for the next one.

***

The next one took a while, and Nathaniel felt relieved when that red envelope finally appeared. Only then he noticed how much he was looking forward to them, making him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

This one was a little different. So he frowned a little when reading.

_Dear Nathaniel,_

_This will be my last letter._

_I feel a little guilty for taking your time without you even knowing who I am._

_So I have decided to give you some hints so you are able to identify me._

_I am scared to be rejected, so this is why I always stayed anonymous._

_This is because I know my feelings will not be returned._

_Yet I hope to continue giving you hope._

_Because I want you to know how important you are._

_How much you light up my world._

_And that I hope that one day,_

_You will find someone who does that for you as well._

_I tried becoming your sun._

_But you should be allowed to discover your own._

_I don’t want to take that away from you._

_I apologize for stealing your attention._

_But always remember._

_That you are amazing._

_And that I meant every word._

_I love you,_

_X._

Nathaniel dropped the letter, a wave of sadness raging in his body. Then it slowly, steadily turned into anger. Because this person, whoever it was, was giving up so easily, chickening out, because they were scared. Scared to be rejected, without even being sure that is what would happen.

Maybe it was a prank after all.

And now they felt guilty, so they just decided to stop.

That was probably it.

They were even too much of a wimp to admit it.

Because surely, these little hints would never happen.

Nathaniel tore the letter to pieces, and turned his attention back to his sketchbook.

The other letters however, he was unable to touch.

***

A day later, he was working on his comic with Marc, when suddenly, the writer boy spoke out of nowhere.

‘H-hey Nathaniel…?’

‘Hm?’

‘…you know you… Y-your eyes…’

‘What about them?’

‘They… are very p-pretty… Especially when you’re drawing… They light up a bit… Reminds me of when the sun s-shines down on the… on the ocean…’

Nathaniel tore his gaze from the sketchbook to look at Marc.

Marc was avoiding his gaze.

It was him-

Him after all-

After all these months-

He trusted him-

He-

He really did-

But now it became clear that-

After all-

Nathaniel got up, his hands trembling, his head full of words, full of thoughts, but he didn’t want to voice them.

Didn’t want to hurt Marc even after he betrayed him like this.

He packed his sketchbook and walked away, feeling a pair of apple green eyes on his back.

He stopped.

‘I thought you were different. Guess I was wrong after all.’

‘I’m sorry…’

It was not because of the words, but because of the way his voice had sounded. So broken, so fragile, so small and soft. That Nathaniel turned around after all, his eyebrows furrowed, and then he saw.

Marc crying-

Sobbing into his hands-

And he didn’t know what to do, frozen in his steps.

‘I’m sorry…’ the boy whispered. ‘I shouldn’t have… I knew… I knew it was wrong… You’d never.. think of me… like that… after all…’

Marc wasn’t looking at him, and his body was small, cowered, trembling slightly.

Nathaniel didn’t understood what was happening and he didn’t remember how to move his legs.

‘…’s okay… I understand… you’d be disgusted… ‘s okay… you don’t have to… see me again…’

No, he-

He didn’t want that-

Marc was his writer-

His friend-

His partner-

One he trusted-

Possibly the person he trusted the most-

_Then why the hell didn’t he believe him?_

Nathaniel relaxed, and he blinked, twisting his mind and his thoughts, trying to find the truth he knew but was too scared to grasp.

But Marc was still crying and he had never seen him so small, and Nathaniel wanted to be there for him-

And then he saw, that _that_ was more important than anything in the world.

So finally, his legs moved.

Fast.

And he ran towards his friend, wrapping his arms around him, holding him close.

‘N-Nathaniel…?’

‘Shhh, it’s alright. We’ll talk later, okay? Everything is fine. I won’t leave you. Just let it out for a bit.’

And Marc cried in his arms.

Nathaniel chose to believe and accept the words in the letters.

***

It was two weeks later that Nathaniel decided to write a letter back, now that he knew the identity of the sender.

_Dear Marc,_

_Thank you for your letters._

_They made me smile._

_And my heart flutter._

_You told me I should be allowed to find my own sun._

_I’m still searching, but I think I am on the right track._

_Give me some time._

_And I will tell you._

_Nathaniel._

***

A few months later, Nathaniel confessed his feelings. And Marc cried some more, but this time, they were tears of happiness.


	28. Day 28: Free space - Pacific Rim AU

Nathaniel lowered his weapon, wiping some of the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Sometimes he wondered if everything was even worth the effort. Their teachers were hardly paying attention and honestly, by now, wouldn’t they have gotten an idea at least about who was compatible with each other?

He stared at his friend Alix, a few feet away from him, she had been his sparring partner for the last hour. Training with her was always fun, but Nathaniel already knew they weren’t compatible, no matter how good friends they were.

The only thing he really wanted…

His gaze was stolen by a pretty girl, just a little bit taller than him, with silky dark hair, tied together in two ponytails, a carefree smile on her face.

He breathed.

If only… If only he could pilot a Jaeger with Marinette…

Marinette was sweet, she was kind, pretty and smart…

He’d give everything to be able to link with her.

But…

The only time he’d been in the simulator with her, their minds had repelled each other before they’d even been able to start drifting.

Surely it had been a mistake…

Surely if they’d give him another chance, he’ll…

‘You okay, Nath?’ Alix was in front of him, grinning as she took her helmet off. ‘You seem a bit out of it.’

Alix always noticed whenever something was on his mind. They’d been friends ever since both of them joined the training cadets, which was now 4 years ago already, when they were both 13 years old.

‘Just wondering if we’ll ever get out of here,’ he sighed.

‘Well, we will once we find a compatible partner. Meaning we’ll start training with actual Jaegers, preparing for the next Kaiju attack,’ she drank a bit water from the bottle she was carrying. ‘Since you joined the cadets you must have been prepared for that, right? Giving your life to fight Kaiju and stuff?’

That wasn’t… fully true, but…

Flashes of his parents, words, screaming, slamming doors.

Letters, admissions.

Which he didn’t remember applying for.

Quickly, he shook his head, as if that would make the memories disappear.

They did, but only for a very short while, never for good.

Absently, he let his gaze wander back to Marinette, who was talking to her best friend Alya.

He sighed. ‘Do you think they’ll let me try linking with Marinette again…?’

Alix suddenly pushed him with his shoulder, snorting. ‘Really, now? After that disaster from last time? You and her are just not compatible, Nath. But that’s alright, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be her friend or whatever you wanna be to her.’

He looked at her, furrowing his eyebrows as he rubbed his shoulder. The girl always had way more strength than she looked like. ‘Yeah, that’s probably not gonna happen, either. She only ever look at that new kid, Adrien.’

‘Pffft, he’s not new, Nath. He’s been here for over a year.’

‘Eh, whatever. Just… you know.. doing drifting training together… It would at least give me more opportunities to talk to her…’

Alix grinned. ‘Come on, don’t be like that. If you wanna talk to her, you just talk to her.’

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows. Alix always thought so easily of everything, she was never afraid to speak her mind or take action. He was not like that, so he wouldn’t-

His train of thought was cut off by their trainer calling them over.

‘Alright, gather up, cadets! We have a new member joining us today, I’ll be introducing him to you all, be nice and help him settle down!’

A new member? At this time? It didn’t happen often that cadets joined at such a late age, most started around 12 to 14 years old, but… at 17…? It was just… kinda strange. Unless he was transferred from another group, but their trainer would probably have mentioned that.

Nathaniel followed Alix towards the middle of the room, where everyone was already gathered.

Next to their trainer, a boy their age stood, he was of average height and posture, his hair black and half tied up in a messy bun. He had big bright green eyes, averted from the group a bit. He was fumbling with his hands, seemingly shy. He looked very out of place, and Nathaniel absently wondered why on earth he had joined the cadets.

Then again… the same could be said for him, of course.

‘This is Marc Anciel, everyone. As we’ve finished training, I want one of you to show him around and teach him the basic things about his place. Tomorrow, he’ll start training with you guys.’

He gave Marc a small push, who seemed to jump a bit at the touch and opened his mouth, letting his eyes flash nervously over the group, but closing it again.

‘Ridiculous,’ sounded from the group and Nathaniel didn’t even have to look up to find out to whom the voice belonged.

‘How will such a nervous wimp like him ever be able to fight a Kaiju?’ Chloé declared as she observed her nails.

Chloé was the daughter of one of the most successful female Jaeger pilots, whom everyone looked up to. She knew that however, and used her mother’s prestige as she pleased, that however, did not make people like her. Nor did it make her compatible to anyone in the group.

‘Do not judge a book by its cover, Chloé,’ their trainer stated.

Marc however, averted his eyes, fumbling with his gloves awkwardly.

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, wondering if the boy would be able to survive even the training cadets.

A long time ago, he had been as shy and jumpy as he was, an easy target for bullies. But not anymore. Never again.

‘I’ll show Marc around, sir!’

Nathaniel’s heart skipped a beat as a familiar voice called out. Marinette. Alarmed, he looked up to see her raising her hand, smiling at Marc.

Who looked the other way, blushing a bit.

‘Well, that’s settled then,’ their trainer said. ‘Marinette, I’ll leave Marc to you, then.’

A sting of jealousy shot through Nathaniel’s heart, but he quickly reminded himself of the fact that this just happened because Marinette was so kind.

She was so sweet, so considerate…

Of course she would offer to help a new cadet, especially if that person was just targeted by Chloé, whom she despised a lot.

Yes, nothing to worry about.

Still, there was a weird, uncomfortable sense of foreboding in his chest.

***

It lingered right into the next training day. Marc hadn’t said a word when he had returned from his walk with Marinette, nor during dinner, nor the entire evening. He’d just been sitting on his bunk bed, writing in some kind of notebook.

Nino had tried to talk to him for a bit, and he had replied politely, sharing a few words, but nothing more. The other guys had left him alone. Nathaniel had been keeping an eye on him, because there was something about him… He couldn’t quite put his finger on it…

The next day, right of the bat, he was partnered against Marc.

Right now he was standing a few feet away from him, staring into the other boy’s eyes as he prepared, finding his most comfortable fighting stance.

He wondered if he should go easy on him or-

Suddenly, Marc was in front of him, Nathaniel hadn’t been able to follow his movements.

Quickly, he blocked his attack, dancing around him. Marc followed, suddenly an intense look in his bright green eyes, every sprinkle of insecurity, faded to nothing.

He was fast-

Extremely so-

His body was starting to feel heavy-

Tired-

Hard to keep up-

He tasted blood suddenly, and vaguely registered he had probably bitten his lip just a bit too hard.

Marc’s gaze was fierce, and Nathaniel didn’t dare look away from him.

The ground was gone suddenly-

Under his right foot-

And he tripped.

Falling to the ground.

The feeling of defeat and humiliation washing over him.

He felt a dozen of eyes on him as he sat on the floor, slightly confused about what had just happened.

And indeed, the whole group had been watching their fight.

His heart was beating loudly and he felt small suddenly, as his fellow cadets towered over him like the Kaiju they were supposed to fight.

In front of him, Marc offered him his hand, blinking.

_…really?_

After humiliating him like that?

Making fun of him?

Hiding his true strength under such a shy posture?

Making him get the wrong impression and dropping him to the ground as soon as-

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows, slapping his hand away before getting up by himself, not taking his eyes off him for a second.

There, it was back, the insecurity in those deep green eyes. Good.

But he wouldn’t be fooled.

Not anymore.

Never again.

***

Later that day, Marc tried to approach him. Nathaniel was in the shared boy’s dormitory, doodling in his sketchbook to get his mind off things when he heard footsteps coming in his direction, and a soft voice calling out.

‘Uhm… Nathaniel… right?’

He looked up, found nervous eyes staring at him, and he went back to drawing.

His mind was protesting, he did _not_ want to talk to this guy, but he also didn’t want to make a scene.

Yet the humiliation… Of today… And on top of that Marc had spoken to Marinette _again_ today. While it took him so much effort to speak to her, spending days and days to gather up courage, he just casually spoke to her… it was bizarre.

‘I… I am sorry about this morning…’

_What?_

‘I… I can see I made you upset, clearly…’

_You’re not making it better._

‘I… what can I do to make it up to you…?’

Nathaniel violently pushed his sketchbook aside, locking their eyes together.

There was an ember within him, one that had been sparked by no-one else than the innocent boy in front of him.

But Nathaniel, he wouldn’t be fooled. For Marc was far from the innocent teenager the presented himself as. He was a monster. One he didn’t want anything to do with.

He reminded him of someone, a little bit too much.

But Nathaniel didn’t want to remember, so he pushed the memories away.

Instead, he spoke to Marc.

‘You can stay far, far away from me. That’ll be all. Thank you.’

He went back to drawing, and didn’t look up again.

At some point, Marc disappeared.

***

Fate decided otherwise, for apparently his trainer found if funny to let them spar against each other the next few days, and the days after as well. Every single time, Nathaniel did not speak to him, instead focussed on improving to be able to beat him. But Marc was too strong.

Something deep inside of him was glad the boy hadn’t decided to go easy on him. Because that was the one thing he’d hate.

After two weeks, Nathaniel finally felt like he was doing a little better.

As they danced around each other, he was able to predict most of Marc’s moves, dodging them, striking back, but the other boy was able to avoid his attacks in turn as well.

It took a long twenty minutes until Marc finally landed an attack and Nathaniel lost, again.

But as he was on the ground, he felt a small smile teasing his lips, and he was confused about where it came from.

When Marc offered him his hand, he almost took it, just in time remembering his pride.

***

‘Your drawings… I have wondered for a while, but… Do you… post them online…?’

Nathaniel blinked, looking up from his sketchbook to find Marc staring at him. Quickly, he shielded his sketch from him.

‘Why do you ask?’

‘I… they make me think of certain artist I used to follow on the net for a while… But he stopped posting a few years ago.’

Nathaniel opened his mouth, closed it again. His heart was pounding just a little painfully against his chest, and he chewed on the inside of his cheek, his hand trembling slightly.

_Did he…?_

_No, it couldn’t be…_

Marc blinked. ‘Ah, I’m sorry if I asked a strange question… You don’t have to answer… I… I just wanted to say they’re very beautiful.’

‘You looked.’

‘S-sorry…?’

‘I… find it uncomfortable if people look at my drawings.’

‘I’m sorry. It’s just… fascinating to see you draw…’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Then what are you doing in your own book over there? Because I’ve seen you scribble as well. Are you also an artist?’

Marc’s cheeks colored pink. ‘Ah, no, I… write…’

‘Write what?’

He shrugged a bit, backing off. Clearly uncomfortable, and Nathaniel found something uneasy gnawing on him, and he wondered if maybe, just maybe, he felt a little guilty for pushing.

‘N-nothing special, actually… Nothing special at all.’

Nathaniel breathed. Breathed again. ‘Ah, okay.’

Marc’s eyes flashed from left to right and then he turned around to walk away.

‘I posted my drawings online for a while, but I’ve stopped,’ he blurted out, and Nathaniel couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. ‘I had a nickname on the internet, the Mighty Illustrator. A bit lame, huh? Anyway, there’s your answer.’

It was silent for a moment, and Nathaniel aggressively scratched more lines in his sketchbook with his pencil to not go crazy.

Then, Marc spoke. Very softly. Before walking away. ‘I…’ve always been a fan of you.’

 ***

Three weeks later, Nathaniel floored Marc during sparring, and he blinked as the other boy lay on the ground, blinking as well.

First, he was confused. He tried searching through the flashes of their fight coming back to him, but everything had gone the same as always.

Dancing around each other for minutes long, searching, dodging, waiting, staring, moving…

And suddenly, he had been faster, and the other boy was on the floor.

It was too easy-

It couldn’t have happened-

He must have-

He must have not-

Taken him seriously-

The fire started again and Nathaniel stared at him, his body shivering.

‘Why did you do that.’

‘D-do what…?’

Marc got up slowly, pushing himself in a sitting position. Nathaniel was still hovering over him, a few feet away.

‘Loose on purpose!’ he hissed.

 ‘B-but I didn’t-’

‘You _did!’_ he snapped back.

The green eyes widened, and at that moment, Nathaniel wanted them gone. Forever and ever and ever. So he turned around and walked away, no longer listening to whatever the other boy said.

***

‘Don’t you think you overreacted a bit?’

Alix was sitting next to him in the corridor against the wall, staring at him intently. Nathaniel was hugging his knees, his mind still spinning from the match earlier. The fire had calmed down, but the thoughts hadn’t.

‘Did I…?’

‘I think you did. Marc is not the type of person to go easy on someone. Have you seen his other sparring matches?’

He had. For some reason, his feet had just dragged him there, observing the other boy’s moves, wanting to get better, learn from him.

_Ah, maybe… that was why…_

_No, but… so soon?_

_It just couldn’t be…_

‘I saw the match, Nath. You were on the upper hand for a while before you floored him. He was really struggling. I think you just got a lot better because you sparred with him a lot.’

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. To him, it hadn’t seemed like Marc had been losing, it had just felt the same to him as always, but… Alix was no liar…

‘Maybe you should just talk to him, Nath.’

He sighed, closing his eyes. Because he didn’t want to. But because it was probably the best idea.

‘Alright… Thanks, Alix…’

His friend grinned.

***

Approaching him was kind of hard. Because before, it had always been the other way around. Because Nathaniel didn’t like admitting his mistakes. Because he was a hothead sometimes. He sighed, putting his sketchbook away. Just sitting there would not make anything better. At all.

So he climbed down the bed and searched for Marc in the hallways.

He found him in a corner, leaning against the wall, writing.

Like that, he looked so soft, so calm, so different from when he was fighting. His gaze was focused, yet gentle, his green eyes bright and cheerful. His hand moving from the left to right as he was scribbling, the notebook resting against his knees.

It was a peaceful sight, and somehow, Nathaniel didn’t really want to disturb him, but…

‘Erm… Marc…?’ he felt his cheeks heat up and he slapped them quickly, before calling out to the other boy again.

This time, he reacted, blinking before putting his notebook away.

‘…yes…?’ he jumped a bit as their eyes met. ‘…N-Nathaniel…?’

‘Yes…’ Nathaniel walked a little closer, lowering his eyes. ‘I… I wanted to apologize… for what I said this afternoon. I was… very confused and… jumped to conclusions. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.’

He looked up carefully, searching for his expression.

Marc looked confused for a second, until a smile appeared around his lips as he let their gazes meet.

‘Apology accepted.’

***

‘I want you two to try drifting together.’

So casually, the words had fallen. And Nathaniel should’ve known the moment their trainer had called the both of them over. He should’ve _known_. Yet the words came as a surprise.

He felt Marc’s eyes on him, and Nathaniel didn’t know how to feel. There was a strange tingle in his chest, but he was unsure how to identify it.

Confused? He was, because they’d only known each other for a few months and usually, people who were able to mental link knew one another for years.

Disappointed? A little, because he wanted another try on linking with Marinette, not with… with Marc…

Frustrated? Maybe… Since Marc was still a lot stronger than he was.

Not to mention his fighting style still remembered him of…

Someone he didn’t want to think about.

It was a little bit of all of those things, but there was more, and he didn’t quite get it.

‘So soon?’ he then asked, not knowing what else to say.

Their trainer nodded. ‘I’ve consulted the other cadet trainers, and just like me, they see how in synch your fights are. It can never hurt to try drifting.’

‘But. I don’t even really know Marc.’

‘You know perfectly well that drifting compatibility doesn’t have anything to do with knowing each other, Nathaniel,’ their trainer said, smiling softly.

Maybe that was true, but… What if they succeeded…? Nathaniel wasn’t sure if he wanted to share his memories so easily.

‘You don’t want to try…?’ Marc’s voice sounded and Nathaniel looked next to him, Marc’s expression soft, but there was a hint of hurt hidden within his eyes.

Quickly, Nathaniel looked away. ‘…Alright…’

***  
The moment they stepped into the simulator, Nathaniel felt a little nervous. He hadn’t been in there for a long time, yet the cramped space and warm area of it felt familiar. Every time he had tried drifting with someone, their minds had repelled from the moment they started. Also with Marinette. He wondered what would happen if this time, he’d actually succeed.

But there was no way… was there?

Nathaniel sat down, he on the left side, Marc on the right, taking the leader position. His trainer had wanted it that way, and Nathaniel didn’t really care. He had never been a leader type anyways. Although he wasn’t sure Marc was, either. Sure, he was strong and fast, but still, he had a nervous and insecure side to him.

For a moment, he looked next to him, and found the other boy’s gaze. Marc smiled at him softly.

There was a sting in his heart, because if only… If only Marinette would have been there…

But quickly, he shook the thought away, because it was misplaced, and he had to focus. So he smiled back, stretching out his hand.

Marc’s eyes widened for a bit, and then he took his hand, shaking it before they parted.

‘Let’s do our best,’ Nathaniel said.

Marc nodded, and then closed his eyes.

Nathaniel followed his example.

For a while, there was nothing.

Only silence.

Nathaniel emptied his mind, searching for Marc.

For a while, it was hard to find him.

But then, there he was.

Nathaniel moved towards him, and Marc did, as well.

They reached out to each other.

And-

Flashes of memories, scattered everywhere.

Marc as a small child, cheerful and happy. A woman, a man, his parents, probably. Both smiling as well.

Marc looked like his mom.

A birthday, five candles. His parents were there, various other people.

Then, a goodbye. His father leaving, his mother a worried expression on her face. Marc, crying.

Reunion, his father was back, his arm in a sling, but he was fine. Happy faces. Smiling. Nathaniel felt warm and fuzzy.

Eating out, celebrating.

Another birthday, 10 candles.

Then, father leaving, mother leaving.

A letter.

Crying. Pain.

Unfamiliar faces, a cold, desolate place.

Fighting, sparring.

With the same man.

Every day.

Exhaustion.

More fighting.

Marc, a simulator.

Alone.

All alone.

Pain.

Exhaustion.

Blackout.

Serious faces. Scolding, maybe.

Darkness.

Pain.

More fighting.

More sparring.

Simulator.

Fighting.

Simulator.

Scolding.

Pain.

Screaming.

Blood.

Another birthday. 14 candles.

An emergency.

Red lights.

A jaeger.

Marc.

All alone.

Piloting.

Pain.

Exhaustion.

Crying.

But no choice-

Fighting-

The Kaiju-

Pressure.

Chaos.

Lost.

Darkness.

Then.

Intense pain.

Screaming.

Nathaniel moved closer.

Scared.

Pain.

His heart was aching.

And it was Marc’s-

He knew it was Marc’s-

The Kaiju came closer, attacking the Jaeger, and it fell-

Screaming.

And it suddenly sounded way too real for a memory.

Nathaniel opened his eyes, taking off the helmet and looked next to him, his hands trembling. Marc was screaming, crying, his eyes closed, his body shaking violently.

Where was their trainer-

Frustrated, he got up, his mind spinning with unknown memories, but it was unimportant-

He kneeled in front of Marc, carefully putting his hands on his shoulders, trying to keep him in place.

But the boy was still shaking and Nathaniel didn’t know what to do-

‘Marc,’ he said, his voice trembling, too soft, too unsure.

He tried again. ‘Marc!’ it sounded better now. ‘Marc, snap out of it! We’re here! I’m with you!’

He squeezed a bit, and Marc looked so lost, so terribly lost-

So Nathaniel rubbed his shoulders softly, holding him tight, saying some things he couldn’t remember, like ‘I’m here’, or, ‘Open your eyes’, or anything he could think of.

Eventually, Marc’s limbs responded, and his eyes shot open, he snatched off the helmet and breathed, sweat everywhere, his eyes like those of an attacked animal.

Nathaniel’s mind was spinning with questions, unable to understand the train of emotions he had been dumped into earlier. But with a great need to _know_.

But later-

It had to come later.

Once more, he squeezed his shoulders softly. ‘Marc. Are you with me?’

The boy found his eyes, and they softened, a little.

‘Nathaniel…’

‘Yeah. I’m here. You’re not alone. Alright?’

‘…y-yeah…’

He felt Marc relax slightly against his hands, but his body didn’t stop trembling.

Nathaniel got up, offering him his hand.

‘Let’s get out of here, you need some rest.’

‘D-did we… fail…?’

Nathaniel opened his mouth. Closed it again. ‘I… don’t know…’

And he didn’t. He only knew Marc had to get out of there, and he had to rest.

Marc took his hand.

***

Hours later, they were sitting on Marc’s bed, both holding a hot cup of coffee.

Their trainer had been enthusiastic, showering the two of them with compliments. They hadn’t been able to link, yet, but the drifting had gone amazingly well for a first time, apparently, and he was sure with some training, they’d be able to succeed.

Nathaniel had only half-heard it, still focused on the flashes of memories he had seen in the simulator. Clearly, Marc hadn’t had a normal childhood. At all.

Now that he had calmed down, Nathaniel wanted to ask him about it. But he didn’t know how. So for a while, they were just sitting side by side, sipping their coffee.

Eventually, it was Marc who spoke first.

‘You must have a lot of questions. You saw all of them… didn’t you?’

Nathaniel felt Marc’s eyes on him and he averted his gaze. The other boy sounded broken still, and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

‘When you… told me you were there with me… I think that’s… what I really needed…’

Nathaniel looked up, and Marc was staring at his coffee, moving his thumb over the mug, his cheeks slightly pink.

Their eyes met suddenly, and he jumped, a strange tingle of nervousness shooting from his stomach all the way to his face.

Marc smiled a little. ‘I… have been trained to become a single pilot… As an experiment, kind of… to see if it possible with today’s technology… It was illegal, however… Authorities found me two years ago… Arrested the organization… didn’t know what to do with me, though… I lived in a foster home for a while, just receiving normal education… those kind of stuff… Then… at some point… they brought me here… Something about wasted potential…’

Through the story, Nathaniel found himself staring at the other boy, to try and identify the expression hidden within his bright green eyes, and for a moment, he thought he understood.

It was loneliness.

Unconsciously, he moved a little closer.

‘In here… you don’t have to be alone,’ he smiled softly.

‘I… realized that today…’ Marc answered, a small smile playing with his lips, his cheeks slightly red.

‘I never tried drifting with someone before, so… I’m sorry. It’s probably my fault… I got stuck in that one memory…’

‘It apparently happens a lot with first-timers,’ Nathaniel said, then looked at him carefully, unsure if he could ask the one thing he wanted to know. ‘What… happened there…?’

Marc lowered his eyes. ‘It was just before they found me… An emergency Kaiju attack… My boss panicked, wanted me to fight them. On the one hand because the Kaiju was very dangerous, and they needed all the help. On the other hand to show the world the evolution of the Jaegers, and that I was able to pilot on my own… It backfired, though…’ he chuckled a bit, but Nathaniel found nothing funny about it. Marc probably didn’t either. ‘Because well… I couldn’t… I couldn’t handle the emotional load of piloting by myself… The exact reason why the co-piloting system is a thing. So I just… panicked… Couldn’t see anything… Couldn’t do anything… Apparently my Jaeger went berserk, too… And well… the other Jaegers had to hold me back, while they were fighting the Kaiju, too. In the end they managed to restrain me and got me out. Then they arrested my boss and took me to a foster home. They never blamed me, I was a victim.’

Nathaniel felt nauseous. He couldn’t imagine fighting a Kaiju, let alone all by himself. At such a young age.

‘How did you… get adopted by that organization…?’

Marc sighed. ‘The boss was a friend of my parents… He adopted me when… when they died… They were both Jaeger pilots as well, in the same system… But they got into a fight during the attack and, well… it turned into their demise… That’s why… the boss was able to persuade me into joining him… he made me believe piloting alone was better…’

He looked so small, so fragile, and finally, Nathaniel understood why he switched so easily between the insecure, awkward boy and the fierce soldier during their fights. There was no true or false Marc. He was both. And Nathaniel felt like he wanted to support both of them. So he reached out his hand and put it on his shoulder, squeezing softly.

Marc looked up, and his eyes were trembling.

Nathaniel chewed on his cheek, his mind was a mess. ‘D-do you erm, want a hug…?’ he blurted out, and he wanted to hit himself in the face afterwards, his cheeks burning.

But Marc blinked, then chuckled softly. Halfway, he started crying.

Nathaniel leaned in and wrapped his arms around him.

***

They tried drifting two more times, and it was going better little by little, though they hadn’t succeeded in establishing a mental link yet.

In the meantime, they sparred more, the outcome of their fights almost fifty-fifty, although Marc won just a little more.

From time to time, they spent their evenings together in silence, Nathaniel drawing, Marc writing. They never showed each other their work, but the presence of the other was comfortable.

One night, when he was staring at the ceiling in bed, unable to fall asleep, Nathaniel absently wondered when the last time was that he had been looking at Marinette, but he couldn’t remember. He also hadn’t drawn her for weeks now.

The next day, there was a prominent amount of deep apple green in his drawing, and confused, he closed his sketchbook before he started thinking too much about it.

***

Loud sirens started screaming, accompanied by red lights lighting up the training room. Nathaniel almost tripped over his own feet in reaction, the sirens invading his ears with a loud beep.

His eyes widened, everything in front of him was a blur, mixing into the alarm lights. His heart pounding painfully loud, he _knew_.

He knew perfectly well what that alarm meant.

_Kaiju._

People were screaming, someone was in front of him, saying things he couldn’t hear.

Then, his teacher, roughly grabbing him by the shoulder. He snapped out of it, and everything became clear again. Marc was already by his side, averting his gaze.

Nathaniel blinked, looking back at their teacher, and he already understood what was going to happen.

He exhaled-

‘Marc, Nathaniel. They need you out there. They don’t have enough Jaegers. Come with me.’

It was not a question, not a request. It was an _order_.

Meaning they had no choice.

But Nathaniel wasn’t ready-

They hadn’t even succeeded in establishing a mental link yet-

The Kaiju were very much _real-_

Big, scary, dangerous. Destroyers. Monsters.

And Nathaniel, he wasn’t even fit to be a pilot.

He didn’t realize he was shaking his head until a warm hand grabbed his own and squeezed.

Marc.

‘We can do it, Nathaniel. If there’s anyone I trust in there, it’s you.’

Nathaniel swallowed. Because he too, trusted him. He too, had faith in him.

But he was _scared._

‘Hurry up!’ their trainer pushed and suddenly they were walking.

Flashes. Faces. His father. His mother.

They were vague and blurry. For too long, he hadn’t seen them.

Hadn’t wanted to see them.

And neither had they.

Angry faces, ugly words.

_‘Why can’t you be more like him?’_

_‘You have to follow in his footsteps, Nathaniel. Follow the road he couldn’t finish. Only then will he find rest.’_

_‘You have to do it.’_

_‘Or never set foot in this family again.’_

Another face. One he did not want to see.

Nathaniel bit on his lip, hard.

And it was gone.

Suddenly, they were inside the Jaeger, and Marc squeezed his hand.

 ‘Are you alright…?’

_Had they already started drifting…? Had he seen…?_

No they hadn’t, as Marc was just putting his helmet on. And he followed his example.

‘Don’t get lost. Focus on my memories, and I’ll focus on yours,’ Marc then said, determination in his deep green eyes. They were beautiful. And made him calm down as he slowly inhaled and exhaled.

Nathaniel nodded. ‘Alright…’

He closed his eyes, and the drift started.

Flashes.

They had become familiar by now.

Marc’s life dashed in front of his eyes.

His emotions were calm, focused and Nathaniel breathed, reaching out to them.

They were a bit far, and he groaned as frustration almost took a hold of him.

But then, they moved a little closer and Nathaniel embraced them, inhaling and exhaling, his breathing focused, his body calm. And he opened his eyes.

They were one.

Carefully, he looked next to him. Marc was panting a little, a few drops of sweat dripping down his face. But their eyes locked, and he nodded reassuringly, a small smile on his lips.

Nathaniel smiled back.

‘Let’s go,’ Marc breathed.

And they went.

Their Jaeger moved perfectly in sync, searching through the city for the location of the Kaiju. It wasn’t hard to find, for it had destroyed a ton of buildings on its way.

_‘I hope we’re still in time…’_

Nathaniel blinked, unsure if Marc had spoken in his mind or out loud.

_‘Ah… did you hear that…?’_

_‘I did… Guess we can communicate like this once we’re linked?’_ Nathaniel thought. He felt strange thinking of a precise sentence, and concentrating in such a way that it would get through to Marc. But apparently, it worked.

_‘Y-yeah… Anyway… we should be careful. How are you feeling?’_

_Scared. Tense._

Through the eyes of their Jaeger, Nathaniel could see the way the buildings were destroyed, and far in front of them, another one collapsed. His heart jumped, and he knew, that was where the Kaiju was.

The Jaeger almost tripped and Nathaniel quickly recovered himself, pulling the Jaeger back on his feet, biting his lip in order to focus. His hands had been trembling, but he should keep them perfectly still, for if he fell, it wouldn’t just be him, it would be Marc, as well.

_‘Nathaniel, listen to me… I can feel that you’re scared… I… I can understand… But right now… with you by my side… I am not. Not anymore. Not like I was when I was piloting alone. I… can feel you by my side… And if we stay together… as one… I feel like… we can do it… So… trust me… okay…?’_

_‘We’ll fail…’_

He hadn’t meant to send that thought to Marc, but it was there. Carefully, he looked at the boy next to him, who met his eyes, and shook his head.

_‘Have faith. We can do this.’_

_‘…what if we… die…?’_

_‘We won’t.’_

Nathaniel groaned. It wasn’t that easy! They were going to fight a Kaiju! Humanity’s greatest enemy! And they didn’t even know how many Jaegers were still standing! Maybe they’d be the only ones! And they were rookies! If the professionals had failed, then how on Earth were they able to succeed?

But Marc’s eyes were strong and determined, and Nathaniel knew he had no choice but to trust him. So he did.

And they moved again.

A loud growl suddenly echoed through the air, and there it was. The Kaiju. Just a few feet in front of them, slamming down a building. It was gigantic, even bigger than their Jaeger. It had a terrifyingly large mouth, and teeth everywhere. He had several horns adorning his big head, and his body was like one of a dinosaur; he was walking on two large hind legs, while he fought with his two front legs.

Several Jagers were surrounding it, fighting it, but he seemed able to fend them off easily.

It growled, and the air shuddered. Nathaniel held his breath.

‘Let’s move!’ Marc called.

And Nathaniel’s heart pounded violently, his head protested, but he yelled loudly, his throat burning, and moved.

_They_ moved.

One moment, they were just walking, the other, they were fighting the Kaiju, moving in sync, dodging, and searching for an opening.

One of the Jaegers had instructed them to distract the Kaiju with two other Jaegers, while he and some other would attack from behind, cornering the monster.

As they danced around the Kaiju, Nathaniel imagined their fights, and how smoothly Marc moved. Yet this time, they were not trying to floor each other. This time, they were part of each other.

And Nathaniel _f_ e _lt_ Marc there, within his mind, moving together with him.

Nathaniel breathed.

And he wasn’t afraid anymore.

Marc was not his brother.

And he, he wasn’t his brother either.

They were just two soldiers piloting a Jaeger.

Together. As one.

The Kaiju was following them and the two other Jaegers, the plan going smoothly as the other group prepared to trap the monster.

It was growling at them, frustrated, moving his front legs to attack them, but they danced around it smoothly, their Jaeger small enough to be have lots of speed.

Then, a large cry, and they watched in horror as the Kaiju suddenly lashed out at the building beside them, destroying it completely, and the bricks were coming towards them at an amazing speed.

_‘Move!’_ someone called, and Nathaniel wasn’t sure if it had been him or Marc.

They moved, but just a little bit too late, as one boulder came rushing towards them and with one bang, everything went dark.

***

One moment, Nathaniel was alone in a blurry darkness, trying to find his way out.

The other, he was back in his seat in the Jaeger, but everything was silent.

He blinked, trying to clear his vision. It worked. And Marc was in front of him. Saying a lot of things, looking scared, but then, relieved, a few tears falling down, but he wiped them away.

Nathaniel groaned. Trying to move his body, but everything felt so heavy.

He wanted to remove his helmet-

Marc did it for him, and he could hear.

‘Nathaniel… Thank god…’ There were still a few tears, but most of Marc’s expression was happiness.

Nathaniel found that he liked that, better.

‘Marc…’

‘I’ll help you get out, come.’

His partner helped him out of the seat, his body feeling strange and numb, but slowly, steadily, his senses were returning. They exited the Jaeger, which Nathaniel now noticed was half-destroyed. Just like the entire city around them.

‘We succeeded, you know,’ Marc whispered.

‘Hm?’

‘The Kaiju, they managed to trap it. It dug its own grave when he destroyed that building, trapping himself between the rubble and the four Jaegers coming for him. They destroyed him.’

There was a small smile around Marc’s lips.

‘Apparently it’s because we frustrated it to such a great length.’

‘It almost killed us, though,’ Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows.

Marc bit his lip. ‘Almost. We survived. But we… we synced very well… you know that…?’

He knew. He remembered being in there, their minds one and the same, the same goal, the same ideas, the same emotions. It had been… strangely intimate, yet not uncomfortable.

‘I never wanted to be a pilot,’ Nathaniel confessed. ‘My parents made me join… To follow in the footsteps…’

‘Of your brother?’ Marc said, scratching his head awkwardly when Nathaniel looked at him confused. ‘I know. I’ve… seen your memories maybe as much as you’ve seen mine… But listen, you… You are not your brother… And your brother, he…’

‘He died. His mental link with his partner suddenly failed when the Kaiju killed them.’

Coldness enveloped him as he said those words. Because he never liked his brother. But because he never deserved that, either. But because this had been the entire reason why he was now in this situation, forced to be a pilot. Because he was scared to die the same death.

But then, Marc grabbed his hand, and the coldness disappeared.

‘With you, I feel safe,’ he said.

And Nathaniel’s cheeks were burning. ‘Me, too… I think… together… I’ll be able to do this… If it’s… with you… you give me courage…’

Marc squeezed his hand, and Nathaniel knew he felt the same without him needing to say the words.

They watched the sun set from a broken city of rubble.

And that was how Nathaniel had found his piloting partner. It was not the pretty girl he had hoped for, but he didn’t mind anymore. It was one he would’ve never imagined. But one he would now protect with his life. Because he knew the other would always. do the same.


	29. Day 29: Fantasy AU

The day Nathaniel arrived, it was grey and rainy. The sun was nowhere to be found, and it made the whole town look ominous and a little shady. It made him shiver. Although that could also have been caused by the cold of the early autumn that year.

Absently, he wondered why on earth he had chosen to attend college _here_ again, instead of a normal big city where all his former classmates had gone to. But then he remembered that it was one of the most prestigious art schools in the country, and that it would definitely help him grow.

He probably just had bad timing; in the coming days the sky would surely clear up a bit. He should just stop being so prejudged and give the small town a chance.

***

It didn’t clear up the next few days, and his first day of college it was even cloudier than the day he arrived, yet there was no rain. He was carrying an umbrella, staring at the trees already losing their leaves, they looked sad and lonely, and Nathaniel felt like capturing them in a drawing. He was imagining the way he could do that, maybe using charcoal pencils, or ink… when suddenly, he hit something hard with his shoulder and he quickly looked up into a pair of the brightest green eyes he had ever seen.

‘Ah, sorry!’ he said, grabbing the umbrella he had just dropped. ‘I was lost in thought…’

The boy in front of him seemed to be about the same age as him. He was just a little taller, and he had black hair tied in a messy ponytail. Nathaniel noticed he was wearing fingerless gloves and black nail polish. It contrasted strongly against his very pale skin. But it were the eyes that captured Nathaniel’s attention. They were so intensely radiant that he found it hard to look away. As if they were enchanting him. Never before in his life had he seen such dazzling eyes.

‘N-no, my bad,’ the boy said, pulling Nathaniel out of his daze, he then noticed the other was awkwardly scratching his head, taking some papers he had apparently dropped on the ground.

Nathaniel quickly leaned down to help him. They were lined pages, scribbled full of words, and it was tempting to read, but Nathaniel quickly gave them back to him before he could.

‘Thank you…’ He smiled a bit, putting the papers back in the map he was carrying.

‘Are you attending the art school here?’ Nathaniel blurted out.

‘Oh, I am, yes, I’m starting today. I’m in creative writing. What about you?’

‘2D and digital art,’ Nathaniel said, smiling softly. ‘Starting today as well. I specialize in comic and cartoon style, actually, but I also do traditional art.’

‘That’s amazing,’ Marc answered. ‘Maybe I’ll see you in the joined lessons some time, then.’

‘Joined lessons?’

‘Yeah, they have those, making people in different art divisions cooperate with each other to make big projects.’

Nathaniel felt a wave of excitement run through his body as he heard those words. Especially since there were a lot of things he wasn’t too good at, like script writing.

‘That’s amazing…’

He looked at the other boy, then quickly reached out his hand to introduce himself. ‘I’m Nathaniel,’ he smiled.

‘Ah, I’m Marc…’ Marc took his hand, shaking it shortly before letting go, a hint of pink on his cheeks. ‘It’s nice to meet you…’

***

Marc’s prediction happened sooner than Nathaniel expected, already during the first week he spotted him during a joined course.

Their eyes met for a second, and Nathaniel got lost within them, quickly pulling away when their teacher spoke.

Apparently, they were going to do a cooperation between creative writers and artists , and they’d be allowed to choose their own end product, for example a picture book, a visual novel, or...

_A comic book._

It had been Nathaniel’s dream for ages to create a comic book, and he desperately hoped that this would finally become reality.

Marc appeared beside him only a  second after their teacher told them to find a partner, and Nathaniel almost tripped as he was still getting up.

The other boy grabbed his shoulder, and grinned a little sheepishly, a light blush on his cheeks. ‘Do you… erm… want to work together?’

***

That day, when Nathaniel walked towards his apartment, he didn’t notice the dozens of lit up eyes watching him from a distance.

He didn’t see it the next day either.

Or the next.

Or the following.

***

‘Nathaniel…?’ Marc asked a few weeks later. They were in the final stage of the comic book they were working on. It was about a superhero named Ladybug, one that always inspired Nathaniel during his middle and high school years, when he still lived in Paris.

He’d always wanted to create a comic about her, to honour her, and of course, to finally bundle all the story ideas he had about her.

Marc had happily agreed, and ever since, they had worked together perfectly, their skills complementing each other.

‘Yes…?’ he answered, looking up from the sketch of the final few pages he was working on. Marc was currently coloring the pages and filling in the speech bubbles.

‘I’m just wondering, where in town do you live…?’

‘Oh, in the outskirts, near the forest,’ he answered. ‘Why do you ask? Wanna work at my place sometime?’

‘Ah, that, too… i-if you want to, that is!’ Marc’s cheeks reddened a bit and Nathaniel found it cute. ‘But that’s not why I asked… It’s because, well… I just want to tell you… to be careful walking home… and… don’t go too late…’

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Why’s that?’

Marc averted his gaze, and an uncomfortable sense of foreboding settled itself in Nathaniel’s stomach. The other boy was acting a bit strangely and it didn’t suit him.

‘…strange things have been happening in town, lately… Have always been, actually, but… it’s back, kind of…’

That confused him even more. ‘I can’t follow you…’

Marc looked up, locking their gazes carefully. Nathaniel hold his breath, because Marc’s eyes were mesmerizing… so deep… so…

‘J-just, be careful, okay?’

Nathaniel nodded, but he still didn’t understand what the writer boy was talking about.

***

Two weeks later, he found out what Marc meant.

He was on his way home from a late lecture, walking through the quiet part of town, almost reaching his apartment, when a hooded figure jumped in front of him, his face hidden.

Nathaniel’s heart stopped for a moment, and he took a step back, uneasiness tingling through his limbs.

The figure walked closer, slowly, and alarmed, he turned around, only to find an identical person on the other side, closing him in.

Another appeared.

And another.

And Nathaniel dropped his bag, his hands shaking.

_What… what was happening…?_

_What were they doing…?_

_He had no money, no belongings, nothing!_

_What was it they wanted…?_

Absently, he thought of Marc’s words a few weeks ago, and wondered if this is what his writer friend had been warning him for.

Chewing on his lip, he let his eyes flash from the one person to the other, searching for a way to get out, but there was none.

He was a goner.

Done for.

He didn’t know what was happening but-

He was trapped-

His heart was pounding painfully loud against his chest, and he thought for a moment that maybe, he’d die of that first before these strange hooded people could get to him.

Maybe that would be better.

Then, as one of them took another step closer, only a few feet away from him, he noticed their unnatural glowing purple eyes, and they made him think of Marc’s-

Before he could think anything more of it, the person moved too fast for Nathaniel’s eyes to follow, and he breathed-

He was dead-

No doubt-

He was gonna-

Gonna die-

Lost and forgotten-

Forever-

But then, as he opened the eyes he didn’t even remember closing, there was another figure in front of him suddenly, hissing at the other guys.

‘Get away, this one’s mine.’

Nathaniel blinked.

_That voice-_

‘Oh yeah? Do you have proof?’ the purple-eyed one called. It was a male voice, and the owner of it had stepped away a bit.

‘We’re four against one, kid,’ one of the others said.

Nathaniel moved a little closer to the figure that was apparently, for God knows whatever reason, protecting him.

Maybe it was a bad idea-

Maybe he’d be slaughtered by this one soon instead-

But-

There was no other option-

‘One, yes, one you cannot beat, you lowlifers. Do you have any idea what family I’m from?’

‘Rhy, that one’s from the Anciel family, we gotta be careful!’

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows, he had no idea what it meant, but the purple-eyed guy, who seemed to be the leader, took another step back and cursed under his breath.

‘Well, you’re lucky today, asshole,’ he growled. ‘But don’t think you can fool me. That one is not marked. So if you want to keep him, you better do that.’

The figure in front of Nathaniel didn’t seem impressed. ‘Get away. Before you start to regret it.’

And they went.

Nathaniel breathed, falling to the ground, only now realizing how stressed he had been from the whole situation. Grabbing his bag, he just inhaled and exhaled, gathering his thoughts.

_What-_

_What on earth-_

‘Are you… alright… Did they hurt you…?’ the voice belonging to the figure in front of them spoke. It was too familiar, too…

He turned around, and Nathaniel’s eyes widened.

‘Marc…’

The boy’s eyes seemed to sadden for a moment as he took off the hoodie of his shirt, revealing his face. He reached out his hand and Nathaniel took it, without hesitating, getting up.

His hand was warm and his touch gentle yet firm, and somehow, Nathaniel wanted to cry a little bit, because he felt like he was safe.

Marc however, still looked saddened, and he didn’t understand why.

‘Y-you saved me, thanks…’

Marc shrugged. ‘A little, but…’

‘But?’

His eyes flashed from left to right, and then he looked back at Nathaniel. ‘…I’ll walk you home, okay? I-if you want to, I… can come in and… explain…’

Nathaniel nodded, and they walked to his home in silence. He stayed close by Marc’s side, their shoulders almost touching.

***

Not much later, they were in his apartment, the both of them a warm cup of coffee in their hands. Nathaniel had finally been able to relax, but his mind was spinning with questions.

‘So… what did you want to explain to me…?’ he asked.

Marc took a sip of coffee, and then looked at him, his eyes very sad once again. Nathaniel preferred them happy, and shining with excitement.

‘Those figures that cornered you… they were… vampires…’

Nathaniel frowned. ‘They what?’

Marc looked him in the eye, dead-serious.

‘Vampires.’

He moved back a bit, because, really…?

Was he really joking in a moment like this?

When he had been so afraid, so scared?

He was just… mocking him?

‘…if this is your idea of a joke, I seriously misjudged you. It’s not funny.’

Marc’s eyes widened. ‘I’m n-not joking. I just… This is why I didn’t tell you everything when I warned you… You wouldn’t believe me..’

For a moment, Nathaniel thought to himself. If, but only _if_ vampires really existed, then the whole situation suddenly wouldn’t be so strange anymore, right?

Because no money… no wealth… no things…

There was literally no reason for the four figures to have attacked him.

Unless… they had wanted his blood.

Literally.

But yeah, vampires didn’t exist so it was all total bullshit.

_‘That one’s from the Anciel family, we gotta be careful!’_

The sentence one of the figures had said about Marc suddenly flashed through his mind, and he looked at Marc carefully, squinting his eyes.

‘If that’s true… does that… mean… you’re a vampire as well…?’

Marc averted his eyes. And then slowly, very slowly, he nodded.

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows at first because-

It couldn’t be true-

It was ridiculous.

Totally ridiculous.

But then he looked back at Marc, carefully, observing his expression.

It didn’t change. He was trembling slightly, and his eyebrows were cast downwards, in a sad frown. He didn’t meet his gaze.

No freaking way-

Nathaniel chewed on his lip.

‘You… You are… serious.’ It sounded half like a question, half like an observation.

And Nathaniel stood up, taking a step back.

Because he had never seen Marc eating-

Or drinking-

Except his coffee just now-

And his skin was so pale.

His eyes so ridiculously bright.

Could it seriously be…

He took another step back.

And Marc finally looked at him, standing up.

‘I’m not lying. I swear…’

Nathaniel stared.

His head spinning.

‘Show me.’

‘W-what?’

‘Y-your fangs.’

Nathaniel felt his cheeks heat up and he quickly averted his eyes, but then decided it was best to keep looking at him.

Marc was blinking.

For a while, he was silent, then he walked up to him.

Nathaniel wanted to get away, but at the same time, his mind was convincing him that Marc was probably joking because vampires were all one big legend, but he was also a little scared, but also he trusted Marc and-

He was a mess.

Marc, in turn, stopped walking when they were only inches away from each other, and he opened his mouth, a little awkwardly.

And Nathaniel saw.

He wasn’t kidding.

‘T-then… I never saw you eating because…’

Marc closed his mouth. ‘Because I don’t need it. I don’t need drinks as well.’

He nodded at the empty cup of coffee. ‘I can drink, or eat, but, I just don’t taste anything. And it’s not… really enjoyable, but, well, I can…’

‘S-so… those… other…’ Nathaniel frowned. ‘…other… vampires… they got away, because…?’

Marc sighed. ‘Because I belong to a pretty powerful family… I’m a bit of an outsider there, but, well, I still carry their name, and they turned me, so… I can use it in situations like this.’

He scratched his head.

‘The problem is that it won’t help forever… In your case…’

‘Why is that…?’ Nathaniel sat back down on his couch, and Marc carefully followed his example, and Nathaniel noticed he put a considerable amount of distance between them.

Was he… uncomfortable…?

Nathaniel found that he himself, wasn’t… so much. Because if all this was true, Marc was still Marc, and he was still his partner, still a great writer, and well… He saved his life… Especially if those other… people were vampires.

‘Because they probably noticed I was lying.’

‘About… saying… I w-was… yours…?’ Nathaniel felt a little hot suddenly, and he started fumbling with his hair to focus on something else.

‘Y-yeah…’ Marc said, his cheeks pink as well.

Maybe his room was just pretty warm, yeah, that was probably it.

‘Vampires… they can… well… kind of… Mark their… partners… As in… they can pretty much claim a human… or other vampires… as their own… It’s a special process. When you undergo it, other vampires can’t touch that particular person anymore. The only person who can drink that person’s blood is the vampire who marked them. I kind of… implied you were like that to me, but vampires can usually tell whether a person is marked or not. And you’re not, so… they’ll come back for you at some point.’

‘Why me?’

Marc looked at him, fumbling with his gloves a bit. ‘…your blood smells… special…’

Nathaniel breathed.

‘To you, as well?’

‘Y-yeah. But don’t worry, I’m completely under control. I don’t drink much blood. Only blood we have stored at home.’

_But you still think my blood smells special…_

‘I’m not scared,’ Nathaniel said. ‘You’re Marc. No matter if you’re vampire or human.’

His eyes lighted up for a bit, and a small smile played around his lips. ‘T-thank you… That… means a lot…’

Nathaniel smiled.

Marc then got up. ‘I’ll get going… Just… I’ll walk you home from now on, okay…? I… It’s not that I think you’re weak or something, just…’

‘No, it’s okay. Thank you. I understand. That’s… kind of you. I’d appreciate that.’

Nathaniel couldn’t imagine walking that dark road alone anymore, not when thirsty vampires could appear from every corner. Now that he knew… He shivered.

***

Starting the next day, Marc walked him home every day. Usually, he’d stay for a while, drinking a cup of coffee, because according to him, it was the one thing that could actually close to make him taste something.

Weeks passed, and Nathaniel started feeling guilty to make the other boy walk him home all the time, and something was gnawing his mind… stealing his thoughts.

One day, he finally found the courage to ask.

‘Marc…?’

‘Hm?’ The other boy looked up from his notebook, he had been working on an assignment for class.

‘I uh… you… erm… You are walking me home every day now, and… I appreciate it a whole lot, and I like your company, but… isn’t it… a lot more convenient…’ he paused, taking a deep breath, and then shot out all the remaining words at once. ‘…ifyoujustmarkme.’

Marc dropped his pen. ‘W-what?’

Nathaniel breathed, his head was burning, and he wondered vaguely if it was now as red as his hair. He looked at Marc carefully, but his eyes were so widened, so shocked, and his cheeks so red that Nathaniel felt even more embarrassed and he averted his gaze, chewing on his lip.

‘Well… If you… mark… me… like you t-told me… then… you d-don’t need to worry so much anymore… right?’

Marc inhaled deeply. ‘Do you have any idea what you’re asking?’

‘Yes? I mean? I guess? Probably?’ Nathaniel blinked.

Marc picked up his pen again.

‘Nathaniel… If I… give you my mark, then… it won’t just mean you can’t be preyed upon by other vampires anymore… It also means that… I will be unable to drink any other blood than yours… Meaning I… have to continue drinking your blood… because it will be the only one that will satisfy me… Until the mark disappears… Meaning… until you die…’

Nathaniel’s head was spinning. ‘O-oh…’

‘See? I can’t do that. I can’t hurt you like that,’ Marc said softly, and he smiled a bit as he continued writing.

Nathaniel didn’t answer, thinking hard.

But he didn’t find an answer that day.

***

A week later, he did.

‘Marc. Drink my blood.’

The poor writer boy choked on his coffee, almost spitting half of it out. Then, he looked at Nathaniel, his eyes big and shocked. ‘W-what?’

Nathaniel didn’t know what words were anymore. He searched hard for them, opening his mouth, closing it again, and Marc waited until finally, he managed to blurt them out.

‘Then I know what it feels like. So I can decide for myself if I’d find it a bother if you… mark… me…’

Marc inhaled.

‘I-I n-never d-drank… s-someone’s… blood… directly…’

‘Well, then it’ll be a first time for you as well…?’ Nathaniel smiled a bit, embarrassed, his cheeks burning.

‘N-no. I can’t. I can’t do it,’ Marc said, getting up, grabbing his notebook and pen, but they fell on the ground as he awkwardly tried to gather them together.

Nathaniel tried reaching for it, to help him, but he clumsily scratched his hand across the table.

Cursing, he grabbed his trembling hand.

It was bleeding.

Carefully, he looked up to Marc.

His eyes were… _glowing._

And as soon as their gazes met, he took multiple steps back.

Nathaniel chewed his lip.

Was he…

Was it…

His blood…?

‘…Marc…?’

‘I should leave.’

He was about to walk away, but Nathaniel realized that this would probably be the only time he’d get a chance like this.

_Why though…_

_Why on Earth…_

_Did he want Marc to…_

_To…_

_So desperately…?_

He didn’t know.

Or maybe he did.

But he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

It didn’t matter-

He quickly moved towards the writer boy, standing between him and the door, locking their gazes.

‘Nathaniel…’

Marc’s eyes were trembling, and so were his hands.

Nathaniel hold out his hand. It was bleeding, a little bit, but there were still small drops of blood trailing down his arm.

He took a deep breath.

‘J-just try. Alright? I trust you.’

Marc groaned, grabbing his head. ‘Don’t ask this of me… please…!’

‘But you want to, don’t you?’

‘You have no idea-’

‘Yes! Because I don’t know! If you just- _Then_ I’ll know.’

Marc grabbed his hand, and Nathaniel breathed.

Slowly, very slowly, Marc pulled his hand closer, and he didn’t look him in the eye as he _licked_ the trail of blood from his arm.

Nathaniel shivered.

And he saw Marc’s eyes widening.

‘…it’s… good?’ he breathed, barely a whisper.

Marc let go of his arm, and locked their gazes.

‘It… it is… Which is why… I won’t do that again…’

He left. Before Nathaniel had moved from his frozen state, unable to stop him.

***

Some months passed, and they never spoke of the incident again. Until one evening, Marc walked him home like always, and suddenly, the group of four vampires reappeared.

Nathaniel’s heart sank, and he froze in his steps. Vaguely, he registered Marc moving in front of him protectively.

The purple-eyed vampire spoke first.

‘So, what’s the deal, Anciel? This human, he’s not yours, is he?’

‘Then why can’t we have it?’ another of them asked.

‘Yeah, it’s blood smells pretty good, and he lives alone, a perfect victim.’

‘Get away,’ Marc said.

‘Not until you give me a clear answer.’ The purple-eyed vampire took some steps closer to Marc, facing him. He was a little bit taller than him, and Nathaniel’s heart was pounding loudly against his chest.

‘I haven’t marked him yet,’ Marc answered.

A loud chuckle sounded, and unconsciously, Nathaniel moved a little closer to Marc, who in turn moved even more in front of him.

‘If you haven’t marked him yet,’ the purple-eyed vampire said. ‘He is as much yours as he is ours. So _you_ get away. We’re four, you’re one. An Anciel or not, you can’t win.’

‘Get. _Away_ ,’ Marc growled. And Nathaniel couldn’t see his face, but the sound in his voice was enough. He waited, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, trying to concentrate on something else instead of the vampires surrounding them.

For a second, the leader of the vampires backed away. Just one step. And then he snorted.

‘Then mark him. Right here.’

‘You know perfectly well that I’m not going to do that in public,’ Marc said. And Nathaniel absently wondered what the hell he meant by that. Was it that intimate…? His heart started to pound a little faster, and he wasn’t so sure anymore what exactly the cause of it was.

Marc took one step forward, in the direction of the purple-eyed vampire. Who took one back.

‘If you want to fight me, be my guest. But you know about the Anciel’s fighting techniques, do you not?’

Silence.

‘Then you know you don’t stand a chance. _And_ you know four against one is _not_ something you can be proud of.’

The purple-eyed vampire made a _tch-_ sound, and then turned around.

‘You better make truth of your words, _Anciel_. You can’t simply claim a human smelling that good without marking him. I’ll hunt him down and find him when you’re not around.’

They walked away.

And Nathaniel breathed.

***

When they arrived at home, Marc turned around, and looked him in the eye, shy at first, but then serious. And he took a step closer.

Nathaniel held his breath.

‘Nathaniel… I… I want t-to… make you… mine…’

He released his breath. And his face was on fire.

‘Wow, that sounded…’

‘You c-can take it in two different ways. I mean it in both,’ Marc said, he was blushing.

‘W-what…?’

‘I’m… I… want to protect you… And… I promise to never hurt you… I’ll only drink your blood… when it’s absolutely necessary… In that way. But… this is also a confession…’

‘C-confession…?’

‘I’m in love with you,’ Marc blurted out, and Nathaniel’s heart soared.

His mind was spinning with _what?!_  and _but-_ and _how-_ and _since when-_ and _that can’t be true-_ and a whole lot more that he couldn’t identify at all but-

Something within his chest felt like a fluttering ball of fluff, and it was soft and warm, and Nathaniel didn’t dislike it.

Only his cheeks were uncomfortably warm and he probably looked like a freaking tomato-

How did talking work again?

‘Nathaniel…?’

Marc looked worried, and small, and his posture was insecure and his hands were trembling.

He was nervous-

He should give him an answer-

But how _did_ he feel?

Nathaniel only knew that his heart felt a little lighter whenever Marc was around. That he was kind and talented, and a little shy, but that was more cute than annoying. That his eyes were mesmerizing and his hands were soft. That he didn’t remember anymore what it felt like to be without him. That they were the perfect team they had ever dreamed of. And that he wouldn’t mind Marc drinking his blood… at all. He didn’t mind him being a vampire. Because he was Marc. And Marc was the only thing he needed.

‘I-I…’

‘You don’t need to answer me immediately,’ Marc said quickly. ‘I can still protect you the way I’m doing it right now. I’ll fight when it’s necessary. I’ll win.’

‘N-no it’s… I’m feeling a bit… overwhelmed… But not in a bad way…’ he carefully looked at him, and smiled. ‘I… I need some time to sort out my feelings, but… I like you a lot, Marc… I… think I might be in love with you… as well…’

Marc smiled, and his eyes softened. Better.

‘Once you have an answer… please tell me…’

***

About two weeks later, Nathaniel told him he loved him.

He had never seen Marc’s face so red before. It was cute.

They were silent for a while, just sitting together, as Marc squeezed his hand. Eventually, Nathaniel had to be the one to point it out.

‘You should mark me, then.’

He felt Marc jump slightly next to him, and the writer boy turned to look at him.

‘I guess I said that, huh…’ he scratched his head, smiling awkwardly.

‘How does it work…?’

Suddenly, Marc’s hand was moving over his neck, his fingers soft and gentle.

Nathaniel found it hard to remember how to breathe.

‘Apparently…’ Marc said, his voice low. ‘I should bite you… right here… Suck your blood and… there should be some kind of bond between us… If there is… it should happen automatically… You probably won’t be able to tell, but I will…’

Nathaniel nodded, breathing slowly.

‘B-but first…’ Marc said, he was avoiding his gaze, flashing his eyes from left to right nervously. ‘Erm… c-can I… k-kiss you…?’

‘Yes,’ the small word was gone before Nathaniel realized, and Marc leaned in, slowly. He closed his eyes, and their lips touched. A little awkwardly, then again, gentle, soft, Nathaniel’s head was spinning-

It was then that he knew he wanted to be with Marc forever. Everything fell into place.

And from that moment, their eternity started.


	30. Day 30: Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I know I am t e r r i b l y late with this, and I apologize. The last few days of November, I was in Paris for an anime convention (cosplaying Marc with my girlfriend as Nathaniel, actually 8'D You can check out my tumblr (sunshinetrappedinourhearts.tumblr.com) for some selfies), and I didn't have time to write the last fic. Then when I got home, I caught a cold (oops), and after that I had a huge writersblock and had no idea what to write for this last prompt. xD  
> With babysteps, I managed to finish it, however. It turned out to be a small scene, nothing special. But hey, I wrote more than enough long fics last month, right? 8D  
> I am super proud of myself that I actually finished this, I never expected that. I am glad to have contributed to Nathmarc month, and I thank the organizer for giving me lots of inspiration. *w*  
> And, of course, thank you all so much for reading and writing so many comments! I am not used to those at all, and they make me super, super happy. ;^;  
> For now, I'm going to take a bit of a break, because I need to find new ideas for these two boys (I feel like I'm starting to repeat myself a bit), but I'll make sure to come back to write a multi-chaptered fic for them! (I'm thinking about the kwami swap AU, or something else entirely!) Stay tuned for that!  
> And thank you all so much for reading! You're the best! <3

Nathaniel’s house was warm. Marc felt safe and cozy sitting at the low table in their living room, under a fleece blanket with a cup of hot chocolate. He was sipping some of it while staring at the script for the next chapter he had just finished. Playing with his pen, he was scanning the text for possible mistakes and things he wanted to change. Next to him, Nathaniel was sketching the first part of the chapter. They were really close, sharing the same blanket.

Some time ago, Marc would’ve panicked over it, but now, he was slowly getting used to it. To the way Nathaniel’s ocean eyes always lighted up as he was drawing, his expression softened in a content, peaceful smile. The way he leaned his head in one hand whenever he was thinking, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. The way he brushed his bangs out of his face to focus even better on what he was doing. The way he moved closer to his piece of paper whenever he was drawing details, to concentrate more.

Now that he wasn’t so preoccupied with his own nervousness and trying to stop himself from blushing, it was easier to observe him better, and Marc felt fuzzy and soft inside watching him.

‘Did you finish the script, Marc?’ Suddenly Nathaniel looked up as he lifted his pencil from the page he was working on, their eyes meeting.

Marc felt the blood rise to his cheeks, afraid that he was caught staring, but Nathaniel didn’t seem to have realized.

‘Ah, I think so. I wanted to go over it with you for a bit, see if you like the way I presented the villain this time,’ he forced a small smile, and Nathaniel nodded in response. ‘Sure, show me.’

He shuffled a little closer to him, and their shoulders touched slightly. Marc felt Nathaniel jump a bit at the touch, but he didn’t move away. Neither did he.

As Nathaniel read the script, Marc’s gaze wandered through the living room, and blinked when he spotted the outside through the window. There seemed to be some white against the glass and he then vaguely remembered something about snow in the weather forecasts. But… already?

‘Oh, it’s snowing?’ he looked next to him and saw Nathaniel had been following his gaze. The small sparkles in his eyes he usually had when drawing were clearly visible as Marc stared at him. He felt a smile tugging at his lips and he looked outside as well.

The snowflakes seemed to be whirling down calmly, covering the world in a soft, white cloak.

He shifted his attention back to Nathaniel, who was still staring outside, seemingly captivated.

‘You like snow?’ Marc asked before he could think the words through. ‘Do you… want to go outside for a bit?’

The artist boy tore his gaze away from the window, and nodded. ‘If you don’t mind taking a break, then… yes please.’ He smiled, and Marc wondered that if he wanted to, how could he ever say no to those eyes?

So not much later, they were outside, both of them wearing fluffy winter coats.

Marc watched as the snowflakes fluttered down on Nathaniel, dancing around him and covering him in a thin, white blanket. There was already a bit on his shoulders and hair. It looked cute, so Marc had to bury his face underneath his scarf to hide his smile.

It was funny how snow never made any sound reaching the surface. Nor did you hear it falling down. Silent as feathers, colouring the entire world white.

‘Marc, come, let’s walk a little bit, we can go back to work later,’ Nathaniel smiled widely, pulling him back in the here and now.

Marc bounced up, following him.

They walked silently, watching as some children were running around outside, already taking out their sleighs, having snowball fights, and sculpting snowmen. He remembered how, when he was younger, he used to made snowmen with his mother, but they never had a carrot to use for his nose, so they always had to improvise. One time, it was a twig, the other time, a piece of leek, and it always ended up looking strange. The last time they had given up and left him without a nose.

He told Nathaniel, whose eyes lighted up as he chuckled at the story.

‘If the snow is still there tomorrow, let’s make a snowman with an actual carrot nose,’ he said. ‘It’s been a while since I made one.’

After a while, they reached the Seine, and Marc couldn’t take his eyes of the sight of the thousands of snowflakes dancing above the river, disappearing within them as they fell. He felt a warm hand grabbing his own, squeezing slightly. He looked beside him, and Nathaniel’s cheeks were slightly red. Marc didn’t know if it was because of the cold, or because of the warmth.

He squeezed back.

And he absently thought to himself that they were a little bit like the snow, falling slowly, but elegantly, seemingly invisible at first, but turning the world white all of a sudden when you forgot to pay attention.

Marc didn’t mind twirling around each other for a little while longer.

 

 


End file.
